McEntee hopes to enact Occupied Territories Bill by summer recess

By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

The Minister of Foreign Affairs has said she hopes a law banning the importation of goods to Ireland from illegal Israeli settlements will be in place by the Dáil’s summer break.

Helen McEntee was speaking to reporters ahead of a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, where she will seek to have the Occupied Territories Bill approved.

She said she hopes it will then be enacted “by the summer recess”.

The recent escalation of settler violence in the West Bank shows the Israeli government has “no desire” for a peaceful solution, she added.

The Bill was originally proposed in 2018 and sought to ban both the import of goods and services, but the Government has said the inclusion of services is “not implementable”.

Asked if the legislation is as strong as she would like it to be, McEntee said: “The Government have been very clear that we will bring forward legislation to respond to what we believe is totally unacceptable behaviour and an escalation in violence, but also very clearly illegal settlements in the West Bank by the Israeli government.

“I’ve been very consistent – and I think as a government we’ve been consistent – that we want to bring forward legislation that can be implementable, that we can bring into effect as soon as possible.”

The minister also said the Irish Government is pushing for change at a European Union (EU) level, adding she believes “this would be the strongest way to respond to the Israeli actions”.

Last week the EU agreed sanctions on illegal settlements in the West Bank for the first time.

McEntee said she is also advocating for a collective EU-wide ban on the trade of goods with the illegal occupied territories.

She said it was “clear” there is not a consensus on Israel among member states but that recent Israeli government action, including the detention of activists from the global sumud flotilla, had “shifted” the mood within the EU and there is now a “desire to respond”.

The Taoiseach defended the exclusion of services from the Bill and said it had been done on “strong legal advice”.

Micheal Martin told reporters on Monday it was “simply not implementable” and would also “potentially damage Ireland more than anybody else in terms of potential impacts on US multi-nationals here, back in America”.

He said it was a “further initiative in a long line of decisions that the Irish Government has taken” in support of Palestine.

Asked about criticism of the Bill being “too little too late”, Tanaiste Simon Harris said: “I think when you engage with the Palestinian government and the Palestinian Authority, they certainly don’t say anything that Ireland does is too little too late.

“They say that Ireland has been one of its best friends in terms of standing up for international law, standing up for human rights, financially providing support and assistance through humanitarian aid.”