New Irish Government Continues to Pursue Illegal Boycott of Israel
The new government programme drops all pretence that the Occupied Territories Bill, was anything other than a legislative effort to harm trade with Israel.
Interview originally published in the Newsletter ( the world's oldest English general daily newspaper still in publication) – “Israel-Hamas war in Gaza: Irish Jew claims Dublin's Occupied Territories bill ignores much larger global wars” (Newsletter, January 17th 2025)
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With the publication of the new Programme for Government (PfG) for the new Irish government, there was fleeting hope that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would have seen sense and abandoned their illegal, punitive efforts to boycott Israel. Sadly, that fleeting hope proved to be fleeting indeed.
The new government programme drops all pretence that the Occupied Territories Bill, was anything other than a legislative effort to harm trade with Israel. Now for the simple crime of buying a religious item in Judea & Samaria, Ireland will be looking to imprison an ‘offending person’ for up to 5 years. Notably, the programme includes a suite of actions targeting Israel – but does not include one meaningful measure to target Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran.
This is the same government that rewarded the perpetrators of October 7th with unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State, has dismissed clear evidence of UNWRA participation in those vile crimes and has not uttered a single word of condemnation about the spike in antisemitism on our streets and on our shores. Why are we surprised?
This is a government that has disproportionately targeted and obsessed over Israel’s campaign to defeat Hamas and bring the hostages home. There are currently eight other wars currently waging across the globe with far higher death tolls and acts of genuine genocide/targeting of civilians, which the Irish government decidedly ignores:
Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (dead: 5 million)
Syrian Civil War (dead: 500,000+)
Russian Invasion of Ukraine (dead: 350,000+)
Yemeni Civil War (dead: 250,000+)
Iraq Conflict (dead: 200,000+)
Afghanistan Conflict (dead: 200,000+)
Sudan Civil War (dead: 150,000+
Tigray Conflict (dead: 100,000+)
Meanwhile, Israel has waged an unprecedent urban campaign which has eliminated over 17,000 Hamas fighters and achieved a civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio of less than 2-to-1 (unprecedented in urban warfare). Yet the Irish government would have you believe this is where the world’s undivided attention and obsession should be.
Furthermore, the Occupied Territories Bill should not be isolated from the other commitments in the document including the commitment to lobby for a review of the EU–Israel Trade Agreement, sanction some of the 750,000 Jews living in their biblical homeland and full-throated support for the lawfare being presently waged against Israel in international courts.
Only a few short weeks ago, Israel shuttered their embassy in Dublin – marking Dublin out as the most hostile Western State to the sole democracy in the Middle East. Now rather than consider this uncomfortable truth, the Irish government is determined to double down – enacting an antisemitic bill which would infringe EU law and irreparably damage Ireland’s relations with America. To what end? This bill will not move the needle on Palestinian statehood, liberation from Hamas or a two-state solution, one iota – but it will hurt the Irish people and threaten their economic security.
When we see a comfortable country like Ireland (reliant on Britain for its security) relentlessly malign Israel, it’s worth remembering Israel’s history. Since 1948, the Jewish State has been in a permanent state of emergency, fighting countless wars and terrorist campaigns to ensure survival. From Hamas & Hezbollah, to Iran & Iraq, Israel has never been left in peace. Now it seems Ireland wishes to record herself in the book of her tormentors.
Update: At the time of writing, there are media reports that the Irish government will abandon the Occupied Territories Bill, potentially in favour of a new iteration of the bill – but with the same purpose.