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Fine Gael health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has defended her 2024 meeting with an ex-Israeli spy.
Her defence however, in correspondence seen by The Ditch, involved carefully chosen words before she passed the matter to her personal assistant.
It follows opposition criticism this week of Carroll Mac Neill, former Oireachtas Friends of Israel member, for meeting Zionist agitator and ex-Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer Yoseph Haddad at Leinster House.
The Ditch reported last year that the then junior defence minister met Inbal Goldberger at the taoiseach’s office in May 2024.
Goldberger, now a Dublin-based digital regulation advisor and Jewish Representative Council of Ireland official, was a commanding officer in the IDF’s notorious Unit 8200 intelligence corps.
The Israeli claims she met with Carroll MacNeill to discuss combating antisemitism and “argued that one step could be to fund trusted flaggers”.
Social media platforms prioritise content flagged by authorised trusted flaggers for removal.
The Ditch reported earlier this year that the JRCI was later awarded trusted flagger status by Coimisiún na Meán, despite saying it would flag for removal content critical of Israel’s existence.
‘Carroll MacNeill handed the matter over to her personal assistant’
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was recently asked over email about her meeting with Inbal Goldberger.
“As your name has come up relating to having partaken in a meeting with Inbal Goldberger and the Coimisiún na Meán I would like you to answer a few questions,” said the man in an email to the minister on 30 June, 2026.
“I would assume you are aware of the phenomenon in which supporters of Zionism are twisting their opposition’s protests… as ‘anti-semitism’. How can we ensure that this will not happen here?” he asked.
Carroll MacNeill responded a week later.
She told the man “I didn’t take part in any meeting with Inbal Goldberger and CnM” – though she has met with Goldberger, just without Coimisiún na Meán present – “I met with the Jewish Representative Council in my capacity as Minister of State for Defence and EU Affairs.”
The man replied by pushing the minister about her meeting with Goldberger.
“I have also come across this photo (attached) and a social media post from Inbal Goldberger that proves that you did in fact meet with her,” he said.
Carroll MacNeill handed the matter over to her personal assistant.
“The meeting was about antisemitism in Europe… I’m afraid we have absolutely no involvement or engagement with CnM (Coimisiún na Meán) so can’t be helpful in this case,” she wrote on 9 July, 2026.
Though she claimed the discussions were about antisemitism a freedom of information request from The Ditch for full records of the meeting was refused because releasing them could damage Ireland’s international relations.
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