The Government is sending officials to a summit in Washington on Thursday organised by US secretary of state Marco Rubio to address “antifa” and “far-left terrorism”. Foreign ministers from about 70 countries have been invited to the ministerial event. However, although diplomats from Ireland’s Embassy in Washington will attend, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee will not be travelling.The summit forms part of the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on antifa, a loosely organised, far-left movement that opposes far-right, racist and fascist groups and which the White House has designated a “domestic terrorist organisation”.Rubio, who this week announced plans to dismantle the International Criminal Court, wrote to dozens of countries, including Ireland, claiming the threat of left-wing terrorism “has remained a blind spot in the international community’s counterterrorism focus, underestimated and under-resourced, despite the danger it poses”.The invite claimed there is a “clear trend” of “globally networked, politically motivated terrorists – particularly far-left terrorists” that increasingly use violence to achieve their aims.The summit is aimed at improving intelligence sharing and co-operation between law enforcement agencies to address left-wing violence.It is unclear how many countries will send foreign ministers. US media has reported that some countries were uncomfortable with participating in what they see as a political project by the Trump administration to target domestic rivals on the left.Other diplomats have questioned why their country was invited and why the focus is solely on left-wing violence.Israeli media reports that Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar will be one of those in attendance.A spokeswoman for McEntee confirmed she will not attend the event. The Department of Foreign Affairs said Ireland was invited to the meeting and “and will be represented by the Embassy in Washington”.EU security agencies have raised concerns about a rise in left-wing and anarchist terrorism, including violence by anti-Israel groups.According to a Europol report released this week, there were 12 left-wing terrorism attacks last year, 11 of which occurred in Italy and one in Greece. “The narratives by left-wing and anarchist terrorist actors remained largely consistent, frequently incorporating references to the conflict in Gaza,” the report states.Outside of Italy and Greece, the scale of left-wing violence was eclipsed by other forms of terrorism last year, the report shows.There were 24 Jihadi terror attacks in EU countries and five by right-wing extremists, Europol states.Ireland recorded no left-wing terror incidents. There was one incident by right-wing extremists and one motivated by Jihadi ideology. Both of these incidents are before the courts.The US state department had originally invited 60 countries to attend its ministerial summit but said it has expanded this number to 70 due to what it claimed was “overwhelming interest”.