Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I also refer to the commitment in the programme for Government on the recognition of the Palestinian state. The response of the Taoiseach indicates that it is entirely meaningless and that he has no intention of doing it within the timeframe of the Government, despite the Dáil voting to recognise the Palestinian state. It was just something to give to some of the Independent members of the Government to let them say they had received it, but the Taoiseach does not intend to do anything about it. Earlier he made the point that if we expelled the Israeli ambassador, we would not be able to get the message across to the Israelis that we were opposed to what they were doing. It is precisely by expelling the Israeli ambassador that we would get the message across. By recalling the Irish ambassador from Tel Aviv we would send a message around the world that we were absolutely appalled by the slaughter of innocent Palestinians by Israeli state forces, that we were opposed to the European Union's complicity in the slaughter through the EU-Israel association agreement and the hundreds of millions of euro of public funds that ended up with Israeli armaments companies, that we were opposed to the ongoing use by the State of Israeli defence companies, including in buying drones from them, and that we stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people. That is how the Government would send a message, rather than saying a few cross words to the Israeli ambassador. What more powerful way of doing so is there than by passing a resolution and the Government actually recognising the Palestinian state?

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