LAST UPDATE | 5 Sep 2023
TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about issues relating to the country’s ongoing conflict with Palestine.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs said he held “frank” discussions with Netanyahu over “illegal settlements [and] the irregular expansion” by Israel into the Palestinian West Bank.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis now live in the West Bank alongside around 2.6 million Palestinians, following the ongoing construction of homes for settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The trend has been described as illegal under international law, and the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA warned last month of a dramatic rise in attacks by settlers on Palestinian people and their property in the West Bank this year.
“[Ireland's] view is that settlements and expansions run contrary to the realisation of a two-state solution and the normalisation of the situation between Palestine and Israel,” Martin told reporters after the meeting.
“We discussed that for a period of time. It was cordial discussion, but I think it was useful in terms of expanding our position, in terms of adherence to international law, UN frameworks governing the occupied territories, [and] our concern about violence.”
The Tánaiste also said that he used the opportunity to re-iterate Ireland’s support for the two-state solution to the conflict, whereby Israel and Palestine would exist as separate, independent states, with the latter located west of the Jordan River in territory that currently makes up the West Bank.
The two leaders met on the first day of a visit by Martin to the region, during which he will also travel the West Bank and Jordan, which has taken in millions of refugees from Palestine and Syria.
It comes amid escalating violence between Israeli forces and Palestinians, with support for a two-state solution falling down the European Union agenda in recent years.
Following a tour of the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre at Yad Vashem near Jerusalem earlier in the day, Martin also said that the Holocaust should serve as a reminder as to why Ireland should continue to support refugees fleeing from Ukraine.
He drew comparisons between Ukraine’s invasion by Russia and the country’s experience during the Second World War.
“In many reasons in the current context, it was one of the reasons that I was anxious that we would open the door to Ukrainian refugees who have been fleeing the worst war in Europe since World War Two,” he said.
“And I think we should remind ourselves of that. It was interesting in the museum to see how Ukrainian Jews were massacred in a very savage way, and how countries on the eastern side of Europe have repeatedly throughout history have suffered such calamitous atrocities against them.”
The Tánaiste said he was “very honoured, deeply moved, and humbled” to visit the memorial.
Afterwards, he visited the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, which features a wall of the names of more than 20,000 people who helped to save the lives of Jews during the Holocaust.
While there, he was shown the name of Cork woman Mary Elmes, who is credited with saving the lives of 200 children and who is the only Irish name on the list.
The Tánaiste also visited Lod, a mixed Jewish-Arab city, to meet with members of local government and the National Library of Israel, before holding discussions with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer.
Later, Martin rejected suggestions in sections of the Israeli press that Ireland’s support of Palestine is anti-Semitic.
“I think it’s a very false connection, and a very shallow one that doesn’t have any substance,” he said.
“Successive Irish governments have been very clear about their absolute disdain and opposition to anti-Semitism.”
He pointed to the Government’s proposed hate speech Bill as offering protections to Jewish people on the basis of religion.
He was asked whether Fianna Fáil founder Eamon de Valera displayed anti-Semitism by apologising to the German government after learning of the death of Adolf Hitler, an issue that has been raised on numerous occasions in the Israeli press.
The Tánaiste described such suggestion as “a very false connection” and “very shallow in terms of substance”.
“I don’t think there’s actually a connection between that and former Taoiseach Eamon de Valera’s expression of condolences at the end of the war,” he said.
“In fact, in Jewish-Irish tradition, de Valera is pretty well respected because of his inclusion of the Jewish religion and faith in our Constitution.
“And that was again very evident from our meeting with the Irish-Jewish Diaspora out here in Jerusalem. So of all people, I don’t think you could ever attach anti-Semitism to de Valera.”
After meeting Netanyahu, Martin gave a speech to the Israeli Council on Foreign Relations, in which he outlined Ireland’s view of Palestine.
He rejected what he said was an assumption “sometimes made in the Israeli media and public discourse that [Ireland's] position on the conflict is evidence of hostility” towards Israel.
“I am often asked why Ireland and Irish people care so much about this issue; or, more bluntly, why do we have such strong views on a conflict that does not impact us directly,” he said.
“I think one answer to this is that for Ireland, as a small and militarily neutral country, our security – indeed, our very existence as a sovereign state – relies on the compliance by all nations, however large or however powerful, with international law and the rules-based order.
“It is on the basis of this principle that we speak out when we see states acting contrary to international law. And it is on the basis of this principle that we are so disheartened that there has been no meaningful progress on the realisation of a just and lasting peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people.”
Although he “unreservedly condemned” terror attacks on Israeli citizens by militants, he said there was a need to recognise that five million Palestinian people also wanted to live their lives “in peace and security”, and that they have a right to self-determination.
“Just this February, the UN Security Council reiterated its strong opposition to Israeli construction and expansion of settlements, the confiscation of Palestinians’ land, the demolition of Palestinians’ homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians,” he added.
“These policies and actions, in addition to contravening international law, have no clear justification in terms of protecting the security of Israel.”
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