Dana Erlich

Dana Erlich is an Israeli diplomat who has been the Israeli ambassador to Ireland since August 2023, when she succeeded Lironne Bar-Sade. On 22 May 2024, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, recalled Israel's Ambassador to Ireland following the recognition of the state of Palestine by the Irish government.

Biography
Erlich is a native Israeli of Argentinian origin, and is a graduate in political communication from Tel Aviv University. She joined the Foreign Service in 2010 and her previous posting was as Minister Counsellor for Political Affairs at the Embassy of Israel, London. She has also served in Costa Rica, the United States and as Israeli Representative of the UN Disarmament Fellowship Programme to the United Nations.

Israeli Ambassador to Ireland
Erlich presented her credentials to President Michael D. Higgins at a ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin on 20 September 2023. She has since been critical of President Higgins' comments on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, accusing him of "repeating misinformation". In response to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's criticism of the "collective punishment" of Palestinians living in Gaza during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war she defended Israeli airstrikes on civilian infrastructure in Gaza and said that Hamas is ultimately responsible for what is happening.

On 15 November 2023 a Social Democrats motion proposing the expulsion of Ambassador Erlich was defeated in Dáil Éireann following a government counter-motion.

In February 2024, Catherine Connolly, Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann accused Erlich of "propagating utter propaganda" on Irish radio and called for her to appear before the Dáil to account for her statements.

In March 2024, An Garda Síochána opened an investigation into death threats against Erlich following the delivery of a package containing white powder to the Israeli Embassy in Dublin which was accompanied by graphic images of Israelis killed by Hamas on 7 October 2023, and a written threat to Erlich. The powder was later discovered to be sugar.

On 11 April 2024, in an opinion piece for the Irish Times, Erlich reported that her invitation to attend the Fine Gael Ard Fheis had been withdrawn linking this to what she described as a "contagion" of anti-Israel sentiment. She also characterised anti-Israel sentiment in Ireland as anti-semitic and questioned Ireland's neutrality. She said that Ireland's plans to recognise the State of Palestine were akin to "rewarding terrorism".

The following day she claimed Israel was being discriminated against by Ireland following an announcement by Fianna Fáil that they would not be inviting the Israeli or Russian ambassadors to their Ard Fheis. Meanwhile, Micheál Martin described her comments about the recognition of Palestine as "absurd and unacceptable".

In May 2024, Erlich responded to the deselection of Social Democrats local election candidate, Orli Degani, a Germany-born Jew with Israeli citizenship, saying that she "appears to have been discriminated against because of her nationality". She described Delgani as one of a "growing number" of Jewish and Israeli people in Ireland who feel increasingly targeted by an atmosphere of anti-Israeli sentiment. The statement was rejected by Social Democrats leader, Holly Cairns, who described the claims as "scurrilous and false" and an attempt to deflect from the "bigger, and much more important issue of the more than 34,000 people now killed in Gaza by the Israeli Government". Cairns later confirmed that the reason for Delgani's deselection was because her position on Gaza differed from that of the party.

Following the announcement of the recognition of the State of Palestine by the Irish government in May 2024, Erlich described it as a "prize for terrorism", noting that Hamas had welcomed the announcement as a result of the "brave resistance" of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. In a subsequent interview for the Irish Times Erlich said that there would be "a review of bilateral relations" between Israel and Ireland.

On 25 May 2024, in an interview with the Irish Examiner President Higgins accused Ambassador Erlich of "encouraging fear" among the Jewish community in Ireland and denounced her claims of growing anti-semitism in Ireland as "grossly irresponsible" describing it as a "PR exercise by an administration that is guilty of continuing breaches of international law".