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Israeli foreign ministry officials excoriated Ireland’s backing for a bill banning business ties with Jews in Judea, Samaria, and parts of Jerusalem, delivering a sharp reprimand to the Irish ambassador to Israel.

“It was made clear to the ambassador that this hypocritical and anti-Semitic legislation will have serious consequences for Israeli-Irish relations and [Ireland’s] standing in the region if [the bill] is advanced,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Friday.

“It would be better if Ireland confronted dictators and evil terrorist groups instead of [attacking] Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.”

On Thursday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Alison Kelly, Ireland’s ambassador to the Jewish state, had been summoned for a formal reprimand.

“It is disturbing and disappointing that the initiators of Irish law focus on a hypocritical attack on Israel, rather than focusing on the dictatorships that slaughter their citizens,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday. “This is a clear expression of obsessive discrimination that should be rejected with disgust."

The summons came in response to the Irish parliament’s preliminary approval for a boycott law which would criminalize commercial ties with businesses operating in Israeli towns over the pre-1967 Green Line. Violators could face up to five years in prison and as well as fines, if the law receives final approval.