LAST UPDATE | 27 mins ago
IT IS AN obligation for Ireland and other EU member states who’s law are in line with the International Court of Justice to take action in line with its recent advisory opinion outlawing Israeli settlements in Palestine, the Taoiseach has said.
Speaking to reporters before a the first summit meeting between EU leaders and leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council, Simon Harris said Ireland will continue to press ahead even if other member states weren’t prepared to take action.
Yesterday, responding to a question from The Journal, Tánaiste Micheál Martin detailed the “divide” between politicians across the EU on whether the bloc should sanction Israel over it’s illegal occupation of areas in the West Bank and Palestine.
Ireland and Spain are among the only countries who have consistently called for the EU’s trade agreement with Israel to be reviewed in the context of the International Criminal Court’s (ICJ) recent opinion.
Harris’ and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s calls have fallen on deaf ears, however, as many ministers, leaders and prime ministers are intensely allied with Israel. The calls have also come under some criticism that it is outside of the leaders’ remit to order.
Harris today said the continued refusal to move on the trade review makes him believe that Europe has not used “every lever at its disposal” to show solidarity with the Palestinian people, who are currently being killed in their thousands in Gaza.
He said: “It’s no long a discretion on countries’ who support the ICJ. It’s an obligation to take action to help give effect to that opinion.”
Asked if he believes if his comments will cause a further divide – or even some confrontation – between Ireland, the European Commission and other leaders, the Taoiseach said he did not.
He added: “I’m not here to have controversial confrontation with anybody. In fact, I’m here to take steps that can help bring about peace and political dialog. I absolutely understand that trade is an EU competency. I absolutely support that reality.”
Harris said Ireland is prepared to move forward with its own legislation on the matter – the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban trade between Ireland and illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine - if the EU continues to reject a review.
He added that the decision is at the discretion of formal, written advice from the State’s Attorney General, which will be given to Government next week, on the “legal complexities” of doing so.
Harris is in Brussels to two days where tomorrow he will attend a meeting of the European Council. The situation in the Middle East will feature prominently during both meetings this week.
Harris said before his meetings this week that he and the Prime Minister Sanchez will again to call for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The politician who drafted the Occupied Territories Bill in 2018, Independent Senator Frances Black, has refuted claims that there are legal barriers outstanding with the proposed legislation.
Before the ICJ’s opinion earlier this year, it was difficult to determine, in law, what was viewed as an ‘occupied territory’. There were also extensive complications due to the EU single market.
Since the ICJ opinion, Government leaders have said the “context” of the law has changed and has made the possibility of introducing such legislation possible – as States who are members of the ICJ must draft laws in line with its rulings.
Yesterday they the Taoiseach and Tánaiste both said that there would still have to be changes made to the Bill so that it is compliant with EU law. Speaking today however, Black said it would not have to be changed, and it was only a “question of political will”.
“I’ve said consistently, since I first tabled the Occupied Territories Bill in 2018, that Ireland can do this,” she said.
“The ICJ ruling in July has simply put the legal question beyond any reasonable doubt,” she said, adding that it was “encouraging” to hear that new advice from the Attorney General reflects as much.
Black added that improvements and “small changes” can be made, but insisted that the bill was “ready”.
“The seriousness of what’s happening, the devastation in Gaza and across the West Bank, demands that we pass it urgently.”
Additional reporting by Press Association and Diarmuid Pepper
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