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

It is clear that I am not shy to call out Israeli policy when it is not consistent with international law. I have repeatedly referred to the illegality of settlements, settlement expansion, demolitions and forced evictions. I have been highly critical, both nationally and internationally, of those policies because I believe they are counterproductive to achieving the outcome of a peaceful resolution to a conflict that has gone on for far too long. Do I believe that taking the approach the Deputy is advocating, which is to try to isolate Israel through boycotts and sanctions, is the right mechanism to achieve a resolution? No, I do not, because, in doing that, we would isolate Ireland rather than isolating Israel.

We need to build an international consensus and Ireland has been at the centre of trying to do that. We will continue to do so at an EU level. We will continue to ask the European Commission to bring forward a toolbox that enables us to use the EU's leverage, which is far more powerful than Ireland's leverage alone. That is what we will focus on. It is what, in my view, foreign policy is about. The debates in this Chamber are, of course, important and Ireland needs to lead by example and try to give global leadership in forums such as the EU and UN in an effort to bring about real change to protect Palestinians and international law. We must work in partnership with Israel where we can to achieve those ends. That is what we will continue to do.

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