Irish Hotel Cancels Rooms for Antisemitism Conference, Citing IDF Involvement Query

A Dublin hotel allegedly canceled 70 rooms reserved for an international conference on combating antisemitism, with the decision reportedly following a general manager's question about the potential involvement of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Maurice Cohen, chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, told Fox News Digital that he and an event organizer met with representatives of the Herbert Park Hotel on May 7. During the meeting, Cohen explained that the event would convene Jewish community representatives, diplomats, and government officials focused on confronting antisemitism. He stated that the general manager's demeanor shifted, and she asked if the IDF would be involved.

"I was completely taken aback by that question," Cohen said. "I said, ‘What would the IDF have to do with a conference on antisemitism?’"

According to Cohen, the hotel manager did not answer the question directly but indicated she needed to consult the hotel's owners. The following day, May 8, organizers received an email stating the hotel could not accommodate their event. Several days later, when organizers inquired about the status of the 70 reserved rooms, the hotel claimed they had been automatically released a week prior, a detail Cohen asserted was not mentioned during the prior meeting.

"Why would you hold a meeting seven days after the rooms had been canceled without mentioning them?" Cohen questioned. "To my mind, that excuse was a retrospective excuse."

Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, commented on the situation, stating, "If the reports from Dublin are accurate, this is a disgraceful example of the very antisemitism the conference was organized to combat."

Cohen, speaking at Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs on October 13, noted that "Seventy rooms had been booked. Seventy people had been welcomed as guests. The only thing that changed was what they were understood to be."

The incident has intensified concerns among Jewish leaders regarding antisemitic discrimination in Ireland. The country lacks a centralized state mechanism for tracking antisemitic incidents, leading community organizations to document cases and raising fears that many instances go unrecorded. The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland reported 143 self-reported antisemitic incidents in the first six months of an initiative, including verbal abuse, threats, vandalism, and discrimination, cautioning that this figure represents only a portion of the actual occurrences.

Cohen described the atmosphere for Ireland’s Jewish community of approximately 2,200 people as experiencing "ambient antisemitism," particularly since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

When contacted for comment, a representative from the Herbert Park Hotel stated, "No comment." Fox News Digital also reached out to the hotel's corporate entity but received no response by the time of publication. The office of Prime Minister Micheál Martin and relevant government departments were also contacted but had not responded.

In a previous interview with Fox News Digital in September, Prime Minister Martin stated, "We have no toleration for antisemitism, none."

Cohen suggested that the hotel's management should engage with Jewish community representatives and undergo training on contemporary antisemitism. "They need training on what antisemitism is," he told Fox News Digital. "They need to be cognizant of the fact they are promoting antisemitism. They need to understand why they’re so wrong."