Catherine Connolly, a far-left independent politician who has called Israel a “terrorist state” and has advocated for Hamas’s continued hold on power in Gaza, was elected Ireland’s 10th president on Sunday after a landslide victory over her rival, Heather Humphreys.
Connolly, who has refused to condemn Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, has frequently commented on the “genocide” in Gaza, as she calls it, and criticized “atrocities” committed by Israel. She told BBC News Northern Ireland during her campaign that Hamas was “part of the fabric” of the Palestinian people.
Ireland is viewed internationally as one of the most anti-Israel countries in Europe, and Israel has accused former president Michael D. Higgins of being antisemitic.
“There are certainly concerns within our community about the positions Connolly has taken regarding Hamas,” Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder told JNS. She appears “not to object to their remaining in power, even as they openly beat and execute their own people,” he continued, referring to Hamas. “Such views do not reflect the outlook of someone committed to a secure and peaceful future,” he said.
Wieder nonetheless congratulated Connolly, adding he hoped she “will use the office to unite rather than divide, and to promote dialogue, respect and understanding across Irish society.”
Wieder also said he hoped Connolly “will take the opportunity in due course to engage directly with Ireland’s Jewish community, to hear our concerns and to better understand how the conflict continues to affect our small community here.”
Asked about Hamas in a BBC interview last month, Connolly said she was “reluctant to unequivocally condemn” the Oct. 7 attack, in which terrorists from Gaza murdered some 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.
“I come from Ireland, which has a history of colonization. I would be very wary of telling a sovereign people how to run their country,” Connolly said when asked whether Hamas should have a role in ruling Gaza.
"[Hamas] were elected by the people the last time there was an election. Overwhelming support for them back in 2006 or 2007. They are part of the civil society of Palestine. We’re reliant on them for figures in relation to the deaths,” she also said, referring to the death toll of the Israel-Hamas war.
In October 2021, Connolly asked the Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney if “indicating support for the Jewish character of the Israeli state” meant his ministry “agrees with the treatment by Israel of Palestinian communities in its attempts to accomplish Jewish supremacy.”
Throughout the campaign, Connolly had the support of Ireland’s major left-wing opposition parties, including Sinn Féin, the Irish Labour Party and the Social Democrats.
