We throw jabs at Israel and U.S and rely on others to defend us

Sometimes, it’s hard to figure out what’s really going on behind the scenes.

On the one hand, there’s all this sound and fury over the Occupied Territories Bill.

Ireland is standing up to the might and fury of Israel and the USA to bring in legislation banning goods from illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.

Yes, Ireland is on the side of the angels here – and it’s not alone.

Last summer, for example, the international Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s 57-year-old occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem was illegal.

Subsequent to that, a resolution was passed by the UN General Assembly with 124 states, including Ireland, voting in favour. This calls on states to take steps towards stopping the importation of products originating in the Israeli settlements.

So, Ireland is on the side of the angels with this Bill, then?

But, on the other hand, here’s the Department of Justice flatly denying entry to 33 Palestinian children and young teenagers scheduled to enjoy a tour of our country.

Are we still on the side of the angels, or am I missing something here?

Our stance on the Occupied Territories Bill has certainly brought us criticism, externally and internally.

We have been accused (and this according to none other than the U.S ambassador to Israel) of taking a dive into a vat of Guinness and suffering from some kind of “diplomatic intoxication” over this legislation.

Of course, Ambassador Mike Huckabee’s outrageous and deeply offensive piece of Paddy-stereotyping turned into a perfect example of the Law of Unintended Consequences. Because far from cowing the peasants into submission, the sheer tide of Irish fury occasioned by his comments was acidic.

You might get away with that kind of vitriol in today’s Washington, Mike, but it won’t go down well here. Once you get an Irish back up, that’s it, you’re screwed. End of story.

(And, Mike, your colourful intervention got so very many backs up. Diplomats, it might be advisable to remember, are normally people who are very skilled in the ancient and complex art of diplomacy. And for very good reasons, they generally don’t get involved in name-calling.)

On the domestic front, the employers’ group, IBEC, also has concerns about the Occupied Territories Bill.

IBEC is concerned about the international perception of the bill, expressing strong reservations about the potentially damaging economic implications the legislation may have for the business sector here.

It describes the legislation as mere symbolism and moral positioning, and warns that the legislation will succeed only in banning miniscule amounts of trade.

Meanwhile, Professor Brigid Laffan, chancellor of Limerick University, has coolly observed that Ireland, as a small state with limited influence, should perhaps be more hard-nosed and avoid endangering its diplomatic capital by passing this legislation.

On top of all of this, but not overtly connected to it, is the reported irritation within the EU about Ireland’s failure to spend enough money on defence.

This is something that we really don’t think nearly enough about.

As of last year, Ireland had the lowest defence spend of 38 European countries. Our naval service is barely able to put to sea, our air corps is grounded after dark, and the army is notoriously hampered by little things like inadequate funding, personnel shortages, and outdated equipment.

Ireland’s failure to address these issues is clearly a matter of concern within the EU, especially in terms of the increasingly volatile, rapidly changing geopolitical environment, and a growing focus on collective security.

We spend just 0.2% of GDP on defence (a level of expenditure which has been described as a “bad joke”).

Our many EU partners in NATO have agreed to increase their target spend from 2% to 3.5% (plus another 1.5% on critical national infrastructure and resilience.)

And here we are - a well-meaning, outspoken, yet very poorly-defended little island on the periphery of Europe - appearing to deliberately poke a very big and very angry bull.

We refuse to spend anywhere near the same as our allies on defence, but at the same time we seem to be provoking ‘hornet’ nations in what might be perceived as a complacent expectation that our far better-armed allies, who have invested heavily in equipping their own armed forces, will rush in to protect us in the event of a backlash.

Em, just as we were forced to depend on other nations to rescue Irish citizens from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in 2021 because we didn’t have the, er, resources?

In the context of all this – and maybe, now, I’m over-thinking it - was some level of doubt starting to creep in about the wisdom of passing the Occupied Territories Bill at a time when so much scary stuff is happening across the wider global stage?

Thankfully, Ambassador Huckabee has provided us with something to distract us from such dark ponderings.

But really. Jokes aside. What is going on?

All that hullabaloo over the Occupied Territories Bill and Ireland’s support for the Palestinian cause – and then the Department of Justice denies entry to 33 Palestinian children and young teenagers scheduled to arrive in Dublin for a planned tour of the country?

In the end, the group cancelled the trip and they all went to a summer camp in Jordan instead.

A bit odd, that, don’t you think?

Like I said, hard to get your head around it.

But what do I know?