Ireland Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's Post About Emily Hand Sparks Backlash

Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar's Saturday statement about Emily Hand, a young Israeli hostage, drew backlash over the leader's word choice, despite some pointing out that he may have been referencing a Bible verse.

On Friday evening, Hamas turned over the first group of hostages it took during its October 7 attack on Israel, part of an agreement to exchange 50 hostages for 150 Palestinian prisoners amid the four-day ceasefire between the militant group in Gaza and the Israeli military. Among a second group released on Saturday were 13 Israelis, including Hand, a 9-year-old Irish-Israeli girl who spent around 50 days as a hostage, during which time she had celebrated her birthday.

"We are happy to hug Emily again, but at the same time, we remember Raya Rotem and all of the hostages who have yet to come back," the girl's father, Tom Hand, said in a statement. "We will continue to do everything in our power to bring them back home."

In the wake of Hand's release, Varadkar released an official statement on Saturday celebrating the development, calling it an "enormous joy and relief."

"This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family," Varadkar's statement read. "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."

Despite the prime minister's celebratory tone, some notably pro-Israel conservatives, including former congressmen Adam Kinzinger and Joe Walsh, took issue with the statement's "lost" and "found" language, claiming it minimized the severity of Hand's situation. The tension was likely heightened by the fact that Ireland has been notable among Western governments in its calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and its urging of Israeli forces to treat Palestinian civilians humanely amid the conflict with Gaza.

"She was kidnapped by rapist terrorists," Kinzinger wrote Sunday on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. "Just minor correction. You 'lost' your ability to say truth."

"So, why? Why would Ireland's Prime Minister say Emily Hand was 'lost and now found?' Simple. He's afraid," Walsh wrote on X on Saturday. "He's afraid to say Islamic terrorists kidnapped this 9yr old Irish/Israeli girl because he's afraid of offending his Muslim population in Ireland. That's all. He's a coward."

Countering this backlash, some, including MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, pointed out the statement's language seemed to echo the biblical verse, Luke 15:32, which reads in part, "this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." Hand was at one point reported to be dead, before it was determined that she was alive and being held hostage.

"Loads of Christian rightwingers on this hellsite piling onto Irish PM Varadkar's 'lost and found' hostage tweet without realizing that he seems to be quoting... *checks notes*... the Bible," Hasan wrote on Sunday on X, sharing a post from Atlantic writer Kim Ghattas laying out the comparison.

In response to an inquiry from Newsweek, Varadkar's office stressed that the leader "has been unambiguous" in his condemnation of Hamas, and also provided a full copy of his remarks about Emily Hand's release, only the first part of which was included in the post that caused controversy. The rest of the speech makes explicit reference to the girl being taken and held hostage.

"The Taoiseach has been unambiguous in his repeated condemnation of the hostage-taking by Hamas and has consistently called for their unconditional release," a spokesman wrote to Newsweek. "The Irish Government was in close contact with Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Red Cross, and many others to help secure her release."

"A little girl was snatched from her home and held captive for almost seven weeks," Varadkar said in his full statement on the situation. "She spent her ninth birthday as a hostage. We hope she will soon heal and recover from the traumatic experience in the loving embrace of her family."

Correction 11/27/23 7:02 a.m. ET: This story was amended to say Emily Hand was released on Saturday, not Friday.

Updated 12/3/23 5:27 p.m. ET: This story was updated with a response to Varadkar's office.

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