Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What was interesting during the visit was that these were not cosy chats with our Israeli interlocutors, I can assure the Deputy, because the Israeli Government perception of Ireland is that we are one of the most - how do I put it - hostile states with regard to the Israeli position, if they even use that language, and that this State takes a position which is negative. That is how the Israeli state sees us. Across the European Union it would have identified Ireland as a country that takes a view which is contrary to the Israeli position. We stress to the Israeli Government that this is not an anti-Israeli Government position or anti-Israel position but rather that we look at the situation through international law and through the successive resolutions passed at the United Nations which affirm the Palestinian right to a homeland, to a state and to the two-state solution. All of our work in this area is genuine, bona fide and is in respect of the implementation of international law; hence our very strong condemnation of settlements.

What concerned me on the ground in the occupied territories is the growth of the very far-right dimension now to the expansion of settlements with the uprooting of Bedouin communities and attacks on schools. I met with a Bedouin family, and the young child explained to me that a young boy's school was attacked by settlers with arms, with displacement being the objective. There is a turn for the worse in respect of expansion of settlements and the nature of it, where religious fundamentalism is playing an increasing role. This adds an extra, dangerous dimension to all that is transpiring. There is deep concern across the world. I had subsequent meetings at the UN with people who are genuinely interested, where Ireland would be seen as a country which is genuinely committed to this to try to get a resolution and to prod people to a sense of a pathway to a two-state solution. Our focus right now is on the two-state solution. The issue of the recognition of Palestine is an issue that is constantly under review by us and we try to work with other European Union states to get a critical mass behind it.

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