'Genocidal talk' - Irish viewers condemn comments made by Israeli ambassador on Prime Time

Irish viewers have condemned comments made by Israel's ambassador to Ireland in an RTÉ Prime Time interview. 

A clip of last night's (October 12) show, which has amassed 104,000 views on X, shows Ambassador Dana Erlich responding to Prime Time host Fran McNulty's question on what innocent civilians in Gaza should do to protect themselves from retaliatory attacks from Israel. 

The interview comes in the wake of Hamas' attacks on Israel over the weekend, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 Israeli people and the capture of over 100 civilians as hostages. 

She said, "I would like to direct that question to Hamas. They have been planning this attack for so long. 

"They're stockpiling rockets for so long, they've been [sic] terror tunnels for so long, if only they would have invested that money in stockpiling food for their people or water for their people. Why didn't they take care of their people?" 

The international community has urged Israel to respond proportionally amidst fears of an imminent ground invasion and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Following Hamas' attack, Israel has shut off access to power, water and fuel in the Gaza region and has confirmed these necessities will not be restored until hostages are freed. 

McNulty asked the ambassador about the rationale for not allowing innocent civilians the right to leave, or the right to food, medicine or water. 

She said, "Right now we are at war. 

"When you are at war, you will do anything in your power to make sure that your people are safe. Talking about opening a border, our border that was just infiltrated in order to butcher our people, and you've heard those stories, you cannot stay indifferent to these stories.

"I do not want to believe that there is anyone in Ireland that is indifferent to these stories and do not fully condemn all of it." 

X commentators weighed in, with most people condemning the ambassador's responses. 

However, several people criticised the host for his "biased" questions, with one person calling the interview "thuggish", while another called it "an utter disgrace". 

One commenter said, "Disgraceful interview and I feel so sorry for the poor ambassador! Shame on the lot of ye!" with another stating, "Absolutely shocking interview, that man should be ashamed of himself!" 

However, well over a hundred commenters condemned the ambassador's responses, with several others called for her expulsion from Ireland. 

One person said, "What Hamas did was deplorable but what Israel are doing and have been doing for decades is a lot worse." 

Another dismissed her justification as "genocidal talk" while a further commenter stated, "Despicable language justifying what are war crimes. It's one thing to claim defence. Another thing to defend the genocide of civilians." 

Earlier in the programme, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Miriam O'Callaghan that what Israel is doing amounts to "collective punishment". 

In response to this comment, Ambassador Erlich said, "Every rocket Hamas fires from their own populated areas to our populated areas is a war crime. So right now I think we are at 4,000 war crimes, not to mention the people who were butchered, the children that were burnt alive. 

"What will be a proportionate response to butchering your people? What will be a proportionate response to moving from house to house burning people alive?" 

In response to a question on the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) bombing neighbourhoods where children live, the ambassador said, "You've heard the people talk, and you've heard us, I feel the pain of the people in Gaza because they did not choose this. They're suffering from Hamas the same way we are suffering from Hamas. 

"Why are we not talking about Hamas? Why isn't the world, and I think most of the world is standing up and saying this has gone too far, Hamas needs to be stopped. 

"I can only hope that one day Hamas and their so-called leadership of Gaza will spend as much time thinking about their population as we are thinking about them. And we are thinking about everything, everything is calculated." 

According to Ambassador Erlich, as Hamas takes cover underneath mosques, hospitals and schools, the IDF is permitted to target them "under international law". 

She said, "We give notice of different headquarters that will be bombed, we make sure that as many civilians leave, but Hamas, their own leadership is forcing them, threatening them." 

In response to a question by McNulty on where civilians can go after being warned a bomb is imminent, she said, "There are shelters in Gaza, we're working daily with different UN organisations in order to make sure that they have." 

However, McNulty pointed out that retaliatory IDF bombs have resulted in the deaths of UN staff in Gaza over the last few days. 

According to the Times of Israel, "at least 11 UN staff and personnel, as well as 30 students at UN schools, have been killed in the Gaza Strip" since Hamas' initial attack on October 7. 

The ambassador said, "I am rejecting this equivalent or this equation that Hamas is anything in a moral compass close to what the IDF and Israel is doing. 

"What we are doing is doing everything in our power not to hit civilians. When we all saw the news, we didn't only think of ourselves. We thought of the people in Gaza and what was Hamas thinking starting this. We don't know what the end game is from their end." 

When asked if Gaza should fear being "crushed and destroyed", as per the comments of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ambassador Erlich said, "Right now we are at war. It's a war we didn't choose, we didn't start, but we need to make sure that our borders are secure, that our people are safe. 

"Our people are not safe yet. Not our people in Gaza, not our people in Israel. We will do everything we can to make our people safe." 

She continued: "We need the world to help us, we've suffered different wars, different terror attacks in Israel but we are a resilient country. This is nothing like we've seen. I don't think any western country has seen, humanity has seen. These are brutalities and atrocities we've not seen and we need the world to help us." 

The interview comes on the same day Irish-Israeli Kim Damti was laid to rest after being killed by Hamas. 

Ambassador Erlich confirmed the Israeli Embassy has been in touch with the family of Ms Damti, as well as the family of Irishman Thomas Hand, whose 8-year-old daughter was also killed in the attack. 

She stated she did "not know" what Israel's next move will be. 

She said, "The only logical step right now is to make sure our people are safe, I do not know what the next move will be, either an invasion I don't know that, that is a decision of our government and our Cabinet.

"I do know right now our people are still not safe. And you're not talking about that."