Ireland accuses Israel of overreacting in row over Leo Varadkar’s ‘lost’ hostage comments

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Ireland has accused Israel of overreacting to comments made by its prime minister Leo Varadkar over the release of Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand.

Mr Varadkar, in response to news of the nine-year-old’s release by Hamas, said: “An innocent child who was lost has now been found.”

But it prompted anger from Israel, which accused him of “legitimising terrorism”.

On Monday, Ireland’s Further Education Minister, Simon Harris, said Israel’s decision to summon the Irish ambassador for a reprimand over the comments was “a bit of an overreaction”.

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped and the comments were an attempt to “legitimise and normalise terror”.

“Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!” Mr Cohen posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“Emily Hand was not ‘lost’, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than ISIS that murdered her stepmother.

“Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you @LeoVaradkar are trying to legitimise and normalise terror. Shame on you!”

Emily was taken by Hamas militants while at a sleepover and was initially believed to have been among the 120 killed in the attack on October 7, in which dozens of hostages were also taken from a kibbutz.

Speaking to RTE radio on Monday, Mr Harris said Ireland was “utterly elated” at the child’s release.

“This is a complete distraction. Emily Hand, the little girl, is free. She’s been 50 days in captivity,” he said.