Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I will start by complimenting the Tánaiste, Deputy Martin, for taking the lead on this and for doing the ground work over a number of months to get us to this position. I also want to recognise the role of the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and many other Members of this House who have called for recognition for a long time. I believe it is an important symbolic but also practical moment. It underlines our view that the Palestinians' right to have their own state is as valid as and equal to that of the Israeli people. It means that the starting point for any internationally-mediated talks should be that there is a fully-fledged Palestinian state, not a Palestinian entity, not a form of a state, not a dependency, not a reservation or a Bantustan, but a full-fledged, independent state. Of course, negotiations will have to take place about borders, the transition and security guarantees for Israel and Palestine, which will be needed, about normalisation of relations between Israel and all the other countries of the region, which is crucial, and the fraught question of the future of refugees and the holy sites.

I would like to make a few points that I think are relevant. First of all, recognition of Palestine is not support for, nor a recognition of Hamas, in any way. The United States recognises Cuba and Iran but nobody would suggest that the United States endorses the governments of those places. We recognise Afghanistan and Russia but nobody would suggest that this means recognition or support for the Taliban or Putin. We recognise Israel and have done so since independence.. That does not mean that we support the Israeli Government or the actions of the Israel Defense Forces, IDF. As the Government has said, recognition is based on the 1967 borders. These can only be changed by negotiation and agreement, not by violence or annexation. I know that it is popular to refer to the term, "From the river to the sea". This may mean different things to different people. To some people, it means the end of the Israeli state. That is not what we are saying here. We are saying a two-state solution, an Israeli state and a Palestinian one, in the area between the river and the sea.

Ireland now joins some 140 countries out of 200 countries in the world that recognise the State of Palestine. We are not in the minority, we are in a very large majority of countries that recognise the State of Palestine. Those that do not are almost all in the global north or in the West, if that term is preferable. Often they are countries that have their own history of colonialism and imperialism. That is not a coincidence. I think more countries will follow suit. I am encouraged that President Macron of France has said that it is no longer taboo to recognise the Palestinian state before peace talks are concluded. I note that the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, has not ruled it out. Belgium, Malta and Slovenia have said they will do so when the time is right. I hope that what is being done here by Spain, Norway and Ireland will help members of the public and politicians in other countries to put pressure on their governments for recognition and then for further action.

In terms of the next steps we can take, I believe we are correct to pursue things in a multilateral rather than a unilateral way. We need to seek to bring people with us, not prove how righteous we are. When it comes to talking to the United States, we should take up the call for the Leahy Laws to be extended to Israel. This is legislation in America that says that when America sells weapons to other countries, it can do so with conditions applied to the general forces or to specific forces. It is long overdue that this legislation be applied to the IDF.

At EU level, we can continue to press for a review, if not a suspension, of the EU-Israel association agreement. For too long, most of us in the western world have allowed ourselves to be convinced that Israel is a liberal, western democracy and belongs in our club. Clearly, that is not the case. This is a country that does not share our values any more, if it ever did. We can see from its actions in Gaza that it is profoundly illiberal and far from being a democracy in the European or American sense. It is a country where there are different sets of rights for different sorts of people. Jewish people have one set of rights, even if they only arrived in the country yesterday. Israeli Arabs have a different set of rights, even though they may have been there for generations. Those who have lived under occupation and military law for 70 years now in the West Bank and Gaza have a different set of rights.

There is a fourth set of rights if the Druze community is included. No democracy in the world operates on that basis. Regarding the change of policy by the Government, previously we had taken the view that recognition should only happen when a two-state solution is agreed. That has changed, not because of the events of 6, 7, 8 or 9 October but rather the rejection of a two-state solution by the Israeli Government and the Israeli prime minister, the fact that no serious talks have taken place since 2014, and, of course, Israel's actions in Gaza. While Israel, like all states, has the right to defend itself, it does not have the right to do wrong. I believe we are witnessing a war of revenge, the collective punishment of the Palestinian people and gross violations of international humanitarian law and basic principles of humanity.

The war in Gaza is a disaster, most of all, of course, for the Palestinian people who have been killed, injured, maimed, bereaved or suffering. However, it is also a disaster for Israel. The war has gone on now for six months and it is a total failure. Hamas has not been defeated, the hostages have not been released and some are dying in captivity. Israel is losing support around the world, including in Europe and, indeed, in the United States where people of colour and those of the younger generation are increasingly turning against Israel. It is also radicalising people in the Middle East and other parts of the world, some of whom may become a security threat to Israel in the future. It is a total military and political failure, not just a humanitarian catastrophe.

I want to say a few words about antisemitism. Ireland is a safe country for Jewish people. We have a small Jewish community here for centuries whose members have made a valuable contribution to the State in politics, law, business, medicine and other fields. We are grateful for that. To my knowledge, no Jewish person in Ireland has ever been killed or even seriously injured as a consequence of their faith or identity. However, antisemitism exists in Ireland and we should be upfront about that; it exists in every country. For the first time, I know some Irish Jewish people feel a conflict between their Irish and Jewish identities and that is very sad. I have Jewish friends in New York, London and other places who, for the first time in their lives, are uncomfortable about wearing the Star of David around their neck or expressing their Jewish identity, and feel threatened by some of the things that happen at pro-Palestine rallies. We must say today that we also unequivocally reject antisemitism. Irish Jews and Jewish people in general are not responsible for the actions of the Israeli Government or the IDF. Many are not even citizens of Israel. We know during the Troubles when the IRA committed terrible atrocities and targeted civilians, sometimes Irish people in the UK and in other places were made to feel bad about that or made to feel responsible. That was wrong and we must make sure we protect Jewish communities around the world and Irish Jewish communities from that kind of politics or those kind of attitudes. We should not forget that Israel itself is a society in which many people are protesting for a ceasefire and where many support a two-state solution if they can be confident a Palestinian state will not be used as a base to attack them. Hamas is a deeply antisemitic organisation and we need to be clear in speaking to Palestinians that there can be no role for Hamas in the future government of Gaza or a Palestinian state, at least not with our support and assistance.

Finally, regarding BDS, we need to be smart and proportionate in the way we approach this. Yes, it is right to boycott and divest from settlement activity but it would not be right to do so from the Israeli state that we recognise. Similarly, when we engage in boycotts, we need to be careful not to boycott the wrong people. There is a strong strain of academics in Israel, human rights activists and civil society, who oppose the human rights abuses that are occurring and have a different vision for their state. It is important they are the ones who should not be boycotted or ostracised and we should do so on an appropriate basis.

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