Irish Government to draft Bill to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements

The Irish Government is to draft legislation to ban the trade of goods with Palestinian lands illegally occupied by Israeli settlements.

Ireland’s deputy premier and foreign affairs minister Simon Harris received Cabinet approval to draft the law on Tuesday.

It is understood the Government Bill will ban the trade of goods but not services as the basis in EU law is much weaker for services than it is for goods.

The Government has opted for fresh legislation instead of progressing the Occupied Territories Bill, first tabled in 2018.

The Government has said there is “a narrow pathway”, based on an advisory opinion from the UN’s top court, to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said last July that countries should “take steps to prevent trade or investment relations” that maintain Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, which it deemed illegal.

Mr Harris said that the Government had “not yet been able to identify the narrow pathway on services” but that there is a legal “pathway” to ban the trade of goods.

He said he believed Ireland would become the first country in the western world to consider such legislation and said he hoped it would encourage other countries to do likewise.

Speaking on RTE’s Six One News, Mr Harris claimed there was “no policy difference” between himself and Senator Frances Black, who had brought forward a Bill that would also include services.

He said: “I want to do everything humanly possible to help maximise the pressure for a ceasefire and an end to the violence and the war crimes that are happening in Gaza.

“But what I also want to make sure is that the Bill doesn’t fall at the first legal hurdle and I want to produce legislation that’s impactful, that could inspire other European nations to join us as well in bringing forward similar legislation.

“And at the moment, the legal opinion that I have is that it’s impossible to do goods under EU law because of the ICJ judgments, but it may not be in relation to services.”

However, the Tanaiste said he “would like to be proven wrong” if there is a pathway on services.

Irish premier Micheal Martin told the Dail parliament that there is “very little” trade between Ireland and the occupied territories but said the ban was an important symbolic move.

He was responding to questions from Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney who said that the Dail was “running out of time” to pass the goods ban before the summer recess.

“Just for the record, there is no major trade between Ireland and the occupied territories, there is very little actually,” Taoiseach Micheal Martin said on Tuesday.

He added: “But that’s not the point, the point is it is a symbolic move and that is important in itself.”

In relation to Sinn Fein’s Bill that aims to give Ireland’s Finance Minister the powers to impose restrictive measures on securities issued by or on behalf of Israel, the Government said the proposals were “unworkable”.

Mr Martin said the legislation proposed by Sinn Fein was “simply unworkable” and “has been written in a manner that in no shape or form could ever be made workable”.

He said it does not focus on Israel “at all” and said the review of the EU-Israel Association could have a “far greater influence”.

A Government spokesperson said the proposed Sinn Fein Bill was asking for an activity that does not take place in Ireland – Israeli bonds are not listed on the Irish Stock Exchange nor are they available to purchase through any regulated entity in the State – to end.

The spokesperson said that the Bill does not prevent securities or bonds from the Israeli state being issued nor does it prevent Israel from raising money by selling bonds.