COALITION LEADERS WILL be briefed by the Attorney General next week on the current legal standing of the Occupied Territories Bill.
Taoiseach Simon Harris had previously ordered a review on trade with Israel, in light of the decision by the International Court of Justice to label Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories illegal.
The Bill, which was brought forward by independent senator Frances Black, seeks to prevent Ireland from trading in goods and services imported from Israeli-occupied territories.
Israel has occupied Palestine, which includes the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, since the Six-Day War in 1967.
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in around 150 settlements that have been built in the occupied West Bank since 1967; the settlements are considered illegal under international law and were declared as such by the International Court of Justice in July.
The settlements comprise residential developments, businesses and agricultural areas and are built on land that has often been forcibly taken from Palestinian communities.
The situation has intensified since the 7 October attacks on Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza.
According to the United Nations, more than 3,000 Palestinian people have been displaced by the demolition or confiscation of their homes in the West Bank since 7 October last year, more than double the number in the ten preceding months.
Although the bill does not mention Israel or Palestine specifically, it aims to prohibit “the import and sales of goods, services and natural resources originating in illegal settlements in occupied territories”.
The law would apply to any territories that are being occupied by a larger power, where there is an international consensus that the occupation is illegal.
The legislation would not encompass a boycott of all Israeli goods, but would only ban the import of Israeli goods that have been produced in settlements in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
The Bill passed in the Seanad in December 2018 despite government opposition, before passing second stage in the Dáil in January 2019, when Fianna Fáil and some members of the Independent Alliance abstained from the vote.
Fine Gael repeatedly outlined its opposition to the Bill, with then-Tánaiste Simon Coveney repeatedly saying that he could not support the Bill based on advice from the Attorney General.
Despite the Green Party advocating for the bill in government negotiation talks in 2020, it was ultimately dropped from the Programme for Government.
Following the dissolving of the 32nd Dáil, the bill lapsed, but Black succeeded in having the bill restored to the same stage in December 2020. The bill is now stalled at Second Stage in the Dáil. However, given the situation in Palestine, there has been a renewed campaign to push forward the legislation.
Speaking to reporters in Washington DC yesterday, the Taoiseach confirmed that the review of the Bill is complete and an the AG is due to brief the three coalition leaders next week.
Harris said every country should be looking at whatever levers it has to bring about a ceasefire, though also adding that it is a matter for each individual country to determine.
He went on to state:
“I believe it means looking at what more we can do within our own legislative framework… I’ll be arranging for the Attorney General to brief myself and other coalition leaders next week on things like the Occupied Territory Bill and where that currently stands against the backdrop of the ICJ [ruing]. I did ask the attorney general to take a look at that and I want that advice and discussion to take place next week,” he said.
He added that from from a European perspective, he believes a review of the EU-Israeli Association Agreement should take place, stating that he will raised and push again on that issue when he attends a European Council meeting in Brussels next week.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has told The Journal that advisory opinion from the ICJ “does present new opportunities to raise this issue in terms of the occupation of Palestine and the degree to which member states and those who were signatories to the court must now have obligations to make sure that they do nothing in terms of its trading relationship with Israel that would support the occupation”.
“We are waiting for the legal opinion on that, but that’s an issue that I’m interested in,” he said.
He said the ICJ advisory opinion does “change the situation quite significantly”, and does place obligations on member states.
“I think that court decision does move things on somewhat,” he added.
Martin also said he has taken steps already in terms of procurement policy within the Department of Defence.
“I think any connection between defence industry in Israel and Ireland would perhaps constitute, in an indirect way, potential support for for the occupation,” he added.
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