Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I may be wrong but I think I was one of the first foreign Ministers to respond directly, using the most effective medium available, namely, social media, to get the message out quickly. Others have also commented, although not enough people commented directly on the threat. The EU issued an appropriate collective statement of concern. I asked the Secretary General of my Department to invite in the Israeli ambassador, who is someone for whom I have a lot of time as he is a good person, in order to express our concern at the statement. I said we would regard it as an illegal act if the next Israeli Government were to proceed along the lines the Prime Minister has suggested. It is something that Ireland and the vast majority of the international community would condemn outright and would simply not accept. I look forward to being in New York next week to reinforce some of those messages. I will be at the UN General Assembly week where there will be many world leaders and I will meet many counterparts, including a number of EU and Arab counterparts, to discuss the Middle East peace process.

Let us wait and see how the situation unfolds in the aftermath of the elections, but it is regrettable that a Prime Minister has chosen to raise the tension on such a sensitive issue in an effort to get votes. I suspect that the response and reaction among Palestinian communities are of real fear and uncertainty. My position is very clear; Ireland wants to be a friend of the Palestinians and also wants to be a friend of Israel. We want a peace agreement that can work, but we will not support illegal annexation under any circumstances.

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