Irish PM panned for saying hostage was ‘lost’
“Emily was never ‘Lost’ – she was brutally kidnapped and held hostage by terrorist Hamas.” War cabinet minister Benny Gantz
(THE TIMES OF ISRAEL) In a tweet that was quickly lambasted, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar welcomed the release over the weekend of Israeli-Irish hostage Emily Hand, saying “an innocent child who was lost has now been found.”
The tweetdid not mention that the nine-year-old Hand had been held hostage for 50 days in Gaza by Hamas terrorists after she was kidnapped from a sleepover with her friend on October 7 during the terror group’s devastating attack on Israel.
Hand was released along with 12 other Israelis on Saturday.
“This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family,” Varadkar’s official account tweeted on X, formerly Twitter. “An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.”
A more formal statement from Varadkar described the circumstances of her abduction and captivity.
Still, he drew flak from Israeli officials and Jewish groups over the tweet’s wording.
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said he had ordered his staff to call in Ireland’s ambassador for a reprimand. In a post on X directed at Varadkar earlier on Sunday, Cohen wrote: “It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!”
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz panned the remarks, saying in a post on X that “Emily was never ‘Lost’ – she was brutally kidnapped and held hostage by terrorist Hamas.”
President Isaac Herzog said the statement was “unacceptable.”
“Leaders of countries, should all take responsibility and tell the truth,” he continued, adding that it was “shameful” that certain “leaders of the member states of the European Union” were careful to not mention the words “Israel, kidnapping, terrorists or Hamas.”
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy also tweeted a response assailing Varadkar and asserting that his remarks were representative of Ireland’s passivity on the entire hostage situation.
“This is how you describe a little girl who went missing during a stroll in a forest, then gets discovered by a friendly hiker,” Levy wrote. “Not a girl brutally abducted by death squads that brutally massacred her neighbors.”
“But this explains the extent of Ireland’s contribution: prayers,” he added.
Within hours of Varadkar’s post, the X platform included a notification that “Readers added context they thought people might want to know.”
“Emily Hand was not ‘lost,’ she was ‘kidnapped,’ taken as hostage by Hamas. Kidnapping is against the law, being lost is not,” the readers’ addition read.
comments