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

Again, I say to the Deputy that the Israeli Government is in no doubt about Ireland's position on this. It does not like it and does not waste time in articulating the fact that it does not like our position. This is not just about sending messages and sloganeering. The Israeli Government is well aware of our position. Behind it all, it accepts our genuine interest in a resolution of the conflict and there has to be engagement at all levels. It is important we retain and maintain engagement with the Israeli Government on these issues and that we argue issues through with it and with the Palestinian Authority, with whom we also must have engagement. The position in the Palestinian Authority is one of appreciation of the Irish position to date. This would also be the position in respect of Jordan and others who appreciate the principled stand Ireland has taken.

Within all of that, it is a complex issue and is not going to be resolved on its own by reducing it to a particular set of actions at any given time. We know that by now. Part of what was going on at the UN and the International Day of Peace initiative of the European Union was to try to galvanise countries to try to develop an approach which would engage with the Israeli Government on a track which could rescue the viability of a two-state solution and to get it onto a proper and peaceful pathway. I believe it is worth pursuing that at the moment.

See this speech in context