Jane Matthews reports from New York

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN Affairs Helen McEntee criticised the European Union’s response to Israel’s actions in Palestine today as she arrived at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York ahead of the opening of the annual high-level week event. 

McEntee told reporters that the EU’s “credibility is gone on the issue” but that she is beginning to see a shift among EU member states and that she is hopeful that there will be progress on collective EU sanctions against Israel. 

Last week, Ireland’s long-debated occupied territories bill entered into law, banning the importation of goods (but not services) originating in Israeli settlements into Ireland.

It came in the same month that the UK, Canada and France announced sanctions against Israel over its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. 

Announcing the move, the UK’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, said the UK would sanction companies that provide services that facilitate the development of settlements.

Asked today if the UK’s inclusion of services in its sanctions gives Ireland scope to go further with its measures, McEntee said her ambition is that this would be done at an EU level. 

She said she welcomed the fact that more countries are now coming forward with sanctions and that the EU needs to “continuously look” at what more it can do. 

“We need to act collectively. I mean, we are failing here, to be quite honest. Our credibility is gone on this issue, and if we don’t act collectively, then the decisions of the Israeli government will not change,” she said.

She added: “For that legislation to have an impact, it needs to be done on an EU-wide basis, and that’s what I’ve been advocating for. I do see a shift, even at the last meeting we hosted. I saw a shift from certain member states that hadn’t been as clear on their views or their desire to see the Commission bring something forward.

“So I would hope at the next meeting we will be able to make some further progress on this matter. But I think everything needs to be kept under review, including our own legislation.”

McEntee was speaking at the UN’s headquarters in New York, where she and a delegation of Irish ministers are attending the organisation’s annual general assembly. 

Later today, McEntee will host an event on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, in partnership with the Malala Fund.

International arrest warrant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will also be in New York this week and is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Thursday, the same day that Taoiseach Micheál Martin will deliver Ireland’s address.

An international arrest warrant has been in place for Netanyahu since November 2024, issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

As the US does not recognise the ICC, Netanyahu is free to travel to the UN General Assembly. 

Asked today whether Netanyahu should be arrested upon his arrival in New York, as New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has urged the US federal government to do, McEntee said it was unlikely, but that Ireland’s position has “been clear” on the issue.

“Look, realistically, I’m not sure that that’s going to happen, but I do think there has to be repercussions where people take actions that clearly breach international law.

“I think there’s a very clear agreement within the EU 27, even when it comes to the illegal settlements…that they’re being supported and being encouraged by the Israeli Prime Minister, and I think we’ve been very clear on that,” McEntee said. 

Meanwhile, for a second year in a row, the US government has denied visas to Palestinian officials, including Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, seeking to attend the UN General Assembly.