Varadkar not surprised by US refusal to stop sending arms to Israel
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and US President Joe Biden during the St Patrick's Day Reception and Shamrock Ceremony in the the East Room of the White House, Washington DC. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Anyone who is surprised by the US stance on Israel "needs to spend a bit more time reading foreign policy" the Taoiseach has said.
Leo Varadkar has said he was not surprised or angered when president Joe Biden told him in the Oval Office that the US will not be halting the shipment of military aid to Israel.
He suggested that anyone who had been shocked by this "needs to spend a bit more time reading foreign policy", as supporting Israel's right to defend itself is the established position of the US.
It comes after former president and chair of the Elders Mary Robinson had urged Mr Varadkar to use his time with Mr Biden to strongly call for an end to military support, given the continued bombardment of Gaza which has killed more than 31,000 people.
Defending his participation in the White House shamrock ceremony, Mr Varadkar said: "I don't think it would have been a wise decision or appropriate for me to take the time in the Oval Office and do that meeting and then turn around a day or two later and say that I wouldn't participate in a ceremony that goes back 40 years."
He said the US engagements are "about a lot more than the shamrock ceremony", and there is enormous value in having meetings over St Patrick's week.
Mr Varadkar acknowledged that there are "different perspectives" between Ireland and the US on Gaza, but said Mr Biden is "working hard" to secure a ceasefire.
"But I have to say, nobody I have encountered has said to me that we should tone down our position or that they feel that that we've gone too far in the comments that we have made and the position we have taken and that is reassuring."
When it was suggested that he didn't receive pushback because his comments this week were not strong enough, Mr Varadkar said that, in politics, it is important to try "bring people with you who don't agree with you yet".
When pressed on whether he had been angered by Mr Biden's insistence that the US will continue to arm Israel, Mr Varadkar said: "I appreciate we live in a world where everyone has to be angry all the time and is encouraged to get angry and then when you're not angry, you're asked: 'Why aren't you angry?' That's not the way I operate."
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