Humiliation for Ireland: Famously Anti-Israel State’s New ‘Air Force One’ Can’t Always Land Safely After They Banned Jewish State’s Technology

Sure, I’ve heard of cutting off your nose to spite your face. However, as someone who’s watched way too many air crash documentaries and knows the grizzly details, I’ve got to hand it to the Irish government:

They’re the first people who’ve put their own national VIPs at risk of literally tearing every limb from their body in order to spite their anti-Semitic face.

Last year, the Irish government had a new long-range jet, a $60 million Dassault Falcon 6X, delivered as a transport for top government officials, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin. (“Taoiseach” is what the Irish insist on calling their prime minister, because — and I say this as an individual of proud Irish descent — the Irish always insist on being difficult in anything involving linguistic heritage, especially with terms that might be confused with those used by those filthy Brits.)

So basically, it’s the Irish version of Air Force One. According to Irish outlet The Journal, the Falcon 6X was meant to replace an aging Lear Jet that had limited range and technical difficulties. The Falcon, meanwhile, is “a multi-purpose Strategic Reach Aircraft” that can “carry out a range of operations, including long distance air ambulance missions.”

It cannot, however, land quite so easily in fog — no small handicap in a country as often cloudy as the Emerald Isle.

Well, OK. Let me rephrase that: It could land very easily in fog, given that this isn’t the most impossible task in the world of advanced avionics and the Falcon 6X is one of the newest jets in production, introduced just three years ago.

However, of all the anti-Semitic countries in the European Union — and there are no shortage of them, believe you me — Ireland may just be the anti-Semitic of them all. Thus, in 2024, as The Times of Israel reported, the government banned all defense contracts from Israeli firms based on a bogus and slapdash opinion by the profoundly biased International Court of Justice.

The problem? That Falcon 6X relies on FalconEye low-visibility system, which uses a combination of cameras and infrared sensors to guide the plane during the landing phase in fog, darkness, or other extreme conditions. The FalconEye is manufactured by the Israel-based company Elbit.

According to the Times of Israel, because of the fact that the Irish government would have to sign a contract with Elbit, “procurement officials determined this was a step too far.”

Irish defense officials would not comment to The Journal on whether the plane has the system on board, but insisted “there are no current limits on the operational capability of the aircraft.”

Pilots The Journal talked to were singing a different tune than Irish defense officials were, perhaps because they’re the ones who have to fly the darned things or know people who do.

“Enhanced vision systems use a number of infra-red and other light spectrum cameras whose imagery is projected onto heads-up display screens in the cockpit to provide unparalleled situational awareness, allowing pilots to see at night and through the most inclement weather conditions,” Kevin Phipps, a former Irish Air Corps pilot who now flies commercial jets, told the newspaper.

“The operational benefit of this system is the ability to land in fog when other aircraft would have to divert to another airport.”

But then, what do those pilots know? And, after all, the Irish government is nothing if not an impartial arbiter of these things. From the Times of Israel:

Ireland has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military campaign against terror groups in Gaza in the wake of the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel that triggered the war. It recognized a Palestinian state in 2024.

Soon after, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar ordered the closure of the Israeli embassy in Dublin, blaming Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies.”

Last month, Ireland’s parliament approved legislation banning imports of goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jewish areas of East Jerusalem.

In June, Dublin banned far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, slamming their behavior toward pro-Palestinian activists.

But, I mean, other than that…

What’s ironic is that the Irish government does use Elbit systems in its defense helicopters, according to The Times of Israel. The difference here is apparently that they had to sign a contract, which was a bridge they weren’t willing to cross. Suit yourself, gents.

And by the way, hobbling an official state aircraft in this way isn’t just a hypothetical danger. You may remember that in 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczyński and 95 others died in the Smolensk air disaster, which was caused by an unsafe approach due to fog and lack of sophisticated avionics onboard the Tupolev Tu-154 state aircraft.

The Tu-154 was a Soviet-era relic, though, and there was only so much modern aviation technology that could be crammed into the platform to make the plane safe enough for VIP transport.

The Dassault Falcon 6X is exactly the opposite: A state-of-the-art plane that should be able to land without a hitch in pea-soup fog, if only the Irish government didn’t hate Jews enough — sorry, wasn’t pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist enough — to deliberately kneecap its capabilities.

Have fun trying to find some Palestinian tech to replace the system, laddies. Improvised explosive devices don’t work too well in that use case, I’m afraid.

I wish death upon no one except the truly monstrous, but I’ll go this far: If tragedy is to befall the Taoiseach or anyone in his orbit in this aircraft because of their undisguised bigotries, the Irish need only look in the mirror, and definitely not toward the Holy Land, in order to assign blame.

When you’re willing to risk cutting limb from limb to spite the only Jewish state in the world, you’ve invited whatever fate, however gruesome, you bring upon yourself.

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