Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is a huge issue that Israel has never been called out or held to account for its many crimes. There is a particular right-wing regime, run by Benjamin Netanyahu, which has the worst elements of the settler movement. We are talking about annexation, apartheid and the idea of a greater Israel right at the heart of the Israeli Government that is absolutely committed to there being no Palestinian state or self-government of any real and meaningful sort. Disgraceful cover has been provided by both America and the EU.

The Taoiseach has said that the EU cannot continue to trade with Israel as normal on the basis of Israel engaging in what is genocidal slaughter and war crimes. How does he plan to deal with this as regards the Israel-EU Association Agreement? How does he intends to do this on the basis of where many of the European countries stand at the minute? Ireland may have to go it alone and take those first steps. My party has been very clear on referral to the ICC, but there are particular things that we can do ourselves. There is the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2022, which I asked the Taoiseach about previously. He referred to the Minister for Finance, but it is something we need to deal with. We cannot invest in companies that are involved in the occupied territories. The occupied territories Bill has to be looked at, and beyond that, recognising the state of Palestine. Often, the Taoiseach and many others have spoken about the fact that there is a particular history in Germany and other countries as regards the genocidal crimes that were carried out during the Second World War in Sobibor, Treblinka and Auschwitz. The fact is that it is a fairly new phenomenon. In 1973, when the Arab armies attacked Israel and Israel asked for help from many European countries, it was refused because they were obviously more worried about oil at that stage. When Nasser engaged German rocket scientists and when the German Government was asked to assist Israel, there was a refusal at that point in time. This is a relatively new phenomenon and there are huge relationships between many European governments, including the German Government, on a security and business basis. Unfortunately, that is some of the call. It is about how we address it.

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