Why Did the Irish Prime Minister Suddenly Resign After His Pro-Gaza Stance in the White House?

Leo Varadkar announced last week that he was stepping down as Prime Minister of Ireland and head of the Fine Gael party participating in the ruling coalition, citing political and personal reasons, without providing additional details.

The New York Times considered Irish PM Leo Varadkar to be one of the most outspoken critics of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

"There is very strong historical support for Israel in the United States, for many different reasons, but that will not distract me from saying what I feel needs to be said," Varadkar was quoted as saying.

Analysts believed that the sudden resignation, which comes only ten weeks before the European and local elections, is like a political earthquake.

The Irish or international media did not mention whether there was a direct link between his resignation and his pro-Palestinian statements or whether the matter was related to special reasons or developments related to his political performance and the party to which he belonged.

This resignation comes at a time when Ireland continues to defend the Palestinian cause, and its politicians insist on stopping the Israeli aggression against the Gazans.

Ireland is the largest supporter of Palestine within the European space, as Palestine witnesses solidarity among the Irish people, as Ireland's lawmakers have pressed within the European Parliament to take decisions in favor of the Palestinians.

Experts explain Irish support for Palestine by the similar pains that the Irish and Palestinians suffered earlier. According to polls, 71% of Irish people view "Israel" as an apartheid state.

Sudden Resignation

On March 20, Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of Ireland, suddenly announced his resignation from his position, stressing that he had taken this step for political and personal reasons. 

It is noteworthy that he took this step hours after his statements in clear support of the Palestinians.

Varadkar told reporters in Dublin: "I am resigning as leader of Fine Gael effective today, and will resign as Taoiseach Irish prime minister as soon as my successor is able to take up that office."

Irish PM Leo Varadkar took advantage of his presence in the White House on March 19 and delivered a speech before U.S. President Joe Biden in which he defended the Palestinians' right to live in dignity and demanded stopping the war on Gaza, providing humanitarian aid, and a two-state solution.

Varadkar explained that Ireland's sympathy for the suffering in Gaza is rooted in its historical experience, where the Palestinian cause enjoys popular and political support.

He addressed the U.S. President by saying: “We see our history in their eyes, a story of displacement, of dispossession, a national identity questioned and denied, forced emigration, discrimination, and now hunger.”

Observers of Irish affairs interpreted what Varadkar said in Biden's face and directed his speech at him in particular, as reminding U.S. President Joe Biden of his Irish origins and their suffering during the last decades of the last century.

Varadkar also pointed out that his country is the only country in all of Europe that opposes the continuation of the Israeli attacks on Gaza because they have caused a major humanitarian disaster.

Varadkar's position is not new, as he had previously taken unilateral positions in support of Palestine within the EU. In addition, he had previously accused the U.S. of practicing double standards against the backdrop of the long conflict in the Middle East.

The Taoiseach considered the Israeli aggression on Gaza to be retaliatory behavior and accused countries in the EU and the West of double standards in their dealings with the Palestinian issue.

He said that not taking a reaction against "Israel," similar to the absolute rejection of what Russian President Vladimir Putin did in Ukraine, is seen as a double standard.

His positions led the Israeli Foreign Ministry to summon the Irish ambassador and demand a position condemning the Hamas movement.

Electoral Defeats

In 2017, Varadkar, a doctor with foreign roots, became Ireland's youngest prime minister.

He then stepped down as part of a deal with the opposition parties after his party's poor performance in the 2020 general elections, but he assumed the presidency of the government for the second time in 2022 under the same agreement.

He opposed the British withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit) and said that its consequences had not been thought through, noting the impact this would have on the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and undermining the integrity of the Good Friday Agreement.

For this reason, after Brexit, he sought a trade agreement in 2019 with Britain, called the Northern Ireland Protocol, to avoid restoring the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, but the protocol was not activated and remained a subject of tension between London, Dublin, and Brussels.

Fine Gael has lost five recent by-elections, leading some insiders to view Varadkar as an electoral liability.

Ten of the party's representatives announced that they do not intend to run in the upcoming elections.

Varadkar's resignation came after he accused the party of being disconnected from voters following the resounding electoral defeats it suffered recently, and its struggle to deal with complex issues, most notably immigration policy.

It also came after opinion polls showed unpromising results for his party.

On March 24, Simon Harris was elected leader of Fine Gael, paving the way for him to become his country's youngest PM at the age of 37.

Fine Gael and its partners in the government coalition (Fianna Fail and the Green Party) constitute the majority in the Irish Parliament, and therefore Simon Harris is expected to be appointed PM on April 9 when Parliament resumes its work.

Simon Harris was the Higher Education Minister in Leo Varadkar's government.

In his first speech after his election as party leader, Harris said: "It is time for Fine Gael to renew its commitment to the people," adding: "There is much to do in the coming months."

He promised to support companies, especially small companies, and stressed that he is proudly pro-European.

Similar Pains

Since entering the EU, Ireland has taken the lead in defending the Palestinian cause and was the first European member to call for the establishment of a Palestinian state in 1980 and the last to allow the opening of an Israeli embassy on its territory.

Irish politicians have directed some of Europe's harshest criticism of "Israel" during the ongoing war in Gaza, with Ireland's PM, Leo Varadkar, describing the attack on Gaza as revenge.

As for Foreign Minister Michael Martin, he described it as a disproportionate reaction, and the opposition went further and described the operation in Gaza as a mass crime, and some of them wore the Palestinian keffiyeh in Parliament.

Ireland, like the rest of Europe, supports the option of a two-state solution to the so-called "Israeli–Palestinian conflict" and urged the leaders of both sides to adopt this scenario, but its relationship with "Israel" became tense in the weeks following October 7.

The Irish government announced last October that it would provide additional humanitarian aid to the Palestinians worth €13 million.

This aid is in addition to the €16 million originally allocated to aid the Palestinians during the current year within the framework of the Irish aid program, which will be disbursed through U.N. agencies, according to AFP.

In 2010, Ireland expelled an Israeli diplomat from Dublin after uncovering fake Irish passports used by suspects to assassinate a Hamas official.

This same year, an Irish ship attempted to transport humanitarian aid to Gaza during the blockade but was stopped by Israeli security forces.

In 2014, a government proposal was voted on to officially recognize Palestine and establish diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority.

In 2017, the Palestinian flag was raised on Dublin City Hall to mark 50 years of the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank.

In 2018, the Irish Parliament passed a bill prohibiting the import of all goods and services originating in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank under penalty of fine or imprisonment.

In 2021, a motion from Sinn Fein condemning the de facto annexation practiced by the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian territories was passed, after receiving the support of all parties represented in Parliament.

In May 2021, the government announced that it would support in principle a bill introduced by Sinn Fein to force government investment funds to sell their holdings in any companies active in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to lists issued by the United Nations.

Israeli diplomats often see Ireland as the least sympathetic European country, but that has not mattered to the majority of Irish people, who really care about stopping the bombing of Gaza.

In turn, political analyst Ibrahim Khatib said in a statement to Al-Estiklal that "while many European countries have been offering the Israeli Occupation unwavering support, Ireland opted to show its solidarity with the Palestinians.

"Ireland's solidarity with the Palestinians is not a like for like reflex, nor merely a kind of political sentimentalism, but rather it clearly appears in the policies of the government, the opposition, and the protesters," he added.

"The Israeli Occupation, for many in Ireland, is akin to a colonial entity created by force by British influence and determined to impose itself on the indigenous population," Mr. Khatib noted.