JERUSALEM — Israel announced Sunday that it was closing its embassy in Dublin in light of what it described as “the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government.”

The decision came days after Ireland announced that it would file an intervention in support of South Africa’s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice in The Hague. South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a charge Israel vehemently rejects.

Israeli officials said shuttering the embassy in Ireland did not mean that Israel was severing diplomatic relations with Ireland. Officials from both countries noted that Ireland’s embassy in Tel Aviv will continue to function.

But the move indicated a more muscular diplomatic policy led by Gideon Saar, Israel’s conservative foreign minister who was appointed to the post last month, as Israel faces mounting international criticism of the conduct of its war in the Gaza Strip.

“Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel,” Saar said in a statement Sunday.

— The New York Times