Dáil debates

Tuesday, 21 March 2023

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions

Foreign Conflicts

9:55 pm

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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72. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will outline the approach he is taking to the actions of the new Israeli government on its ongoing efforts to destroy a two state solution; the specific actions including sanctions that will be taken against Israel for the recognition of, and development of, new illegal settlements; the measures if any, that will be proposed to halt the lethal escalation of violence in Palestine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13611/23]

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I want to continue on this theme because I feel fundamentally depressed by what is unfolding internationally. The only internationally supported long-term peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was and is a viable two-state solution, a viable and internationally recognised state of Israel and a viable and internationally recognised state of Palestine. That is now being made impossible, day by day, by the illegal settlement on Palestinian lands. We really need a strategy to deal with that.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I accept what the Deputy is saying in respect of where we are going or where the Israeli Government is going here. It has been our long-standing position that policies and practices of successive Israeli governments relating to illegal settlements and their expansion, as well as expulsions, forced transfers and demolitions, undermine prospects for a two-state solution and are a major obstacle to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.

The continued establishment and expansion of settlements is a violation of international law and is absolutely unacceptable. It is deeply concerning that the stated intentions of this Israeli Government continue to show blatant disregard for the clear international consensus around this issue. It is absolutely imperative that the international community supports the Palestinian Authority in its recourse to legal and political responses to the occupation.

In this regard, I welcome that the UN Security Council adopted by consensus on 20 February a formal presidential statement expressing its opposition to "all unilateral measures that impede peace, including, inter alia, Israeli construction and expansion of settlements, confiscation of Palestinians’ land, and the 'legalisation' of settlement outposts, demolition of Palestinians’ homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians". We are very concerned at the high level of civilian casualties in the occupied Palestinian territory. As I said earlier, Israel has an obligation under international law, as an occupying power, to protect civilians. It must adhere to such international law. As I said, I have had regular engagement with international partners on this issue, the most recent being with the Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ayman Safadi.

Earlier this month, the 27 member states of the EU issued a joint statement that made clear that Israel must stop settlement expansion, prevent settler violence and ensure the perpetrators are held accountable. We raised this issue again at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels yesterday and urged all EU colleagues to keep the issue high on the agenda. We remain committed to supporting all efforts in terms of a just and lasting two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states, on the basis of international law and agreed international parameters.

The situation is as Deputy Howlin articulated. The current policy of this Israeli Government in my view seems to be to abandon the two-state solution or make a two-state solution unviable and impossible in favour of the creation of a single state. It denies that and says that is not its intention. That single state cannot be an apartheid state either. There would have to be equality of treatment for all civilians.

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are way over time.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My point is that we remain steadfastly supportive of a two-state solution.

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Tánaiste.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am extremely concerned, just as the Deputy is, at the way things are turning out.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I do not doubt for a second the Minister's sincerity in this regard. This is not just this House condemning a particular act of violence or a particular atrocity, however. It is the undermining of the basis for lasting peace in a situation that has often been the root of a conflict that has spread across the world over the last number of decades.

The West Bank is the main part of the Palestinian territories. Israel has now constructed 130 settlements that house more than 700,000 settlers. As the Minister has heard, the Israeli Parliament repealed legislation that ordered the dismantling of four settlements in the past in the occupied West Bank. It is, therefore, almost a green light for the wholesale annexation of Palestinian territories and the creation of an impossibility for lasting peace.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not disagree. I do not get the strategic approach - if one could call it that - from the Israeli Government. It ultimately undermines the security of the Israeli state itself. Israeli policy has marginalised moderate opinion within Palestine. Israeli decisions seem almost tantamount to creating fertile ground for hard-line extremist positions. That is in my view counterintuitive in terms of proper peace and a stable situation. The two-state solution has been earmarked for a long time. It is very difficult to even articulate the concept of a two-state solution given what has happened. What we have to do is continue to raise it on every international forum and work with like-minded states in the European Union to raise the profile for the Palestinian Authority and get greater agreements between the Palestinian Authority and the European Union.

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Tánaiste.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would argue that we have been using the United Nations very effectively.

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Go raibh maith agat.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We must continue to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, as well as non-governmental civil society in Palestine and those who defend human rights.

I apologise, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle; I am not used to the ministerial time limits.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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It is no use all of us saying we will continue to condemn and so on, if the basis for a solution is fundamentally undermined and made impossible. Then, we are talking about a single state. Is that the only viable outcome that is left? That will mean permanent conflict in Israel in my view. We heard the Israeli finance minister, Mr. Bezalel Smotrich, say there is "no such thing" as a Palestinian people and his claim that the Palestinian people are a fictitious nation. That is what he said. That is articulating what is actually now the policy of the entire far-right Government that is currently ruling Israel and causing hundreds of thousands of its own citizens to take to the streets to protest about the erosion of fundamental democracy there. I ask the Minister to articulate a strategy that will save the possibility of two-state solution. Can we build enough coherent allies to achieve that?

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is the strategy we have been following. We engage with the neighbourhood, which is particularly important, including Jordan and Egypt, as well as with the United States.

9 o’clock

The issue has to be raised in terms of the engagement of the United States of America and the European Union with Israel. There are very serious issues arising around the behaviour and the performance of this Israeli Government, not least with its internal situation around judicial reforms and political control of the Judiciary, which run counter to European Union values. We have those issues within Europe too with regard to the rue of law and we take particular stances on them. It would seem to me to be a logical follow-through that given what is happening in Israel the EU has to take more than just a note of that. Our actions into the future and the relationship between the European Union and Israel will have to reflect the absolute disagreement with the approach this Israeli Government has taken on a number of fronts. The comments by Mr. Smotrich are shocking and give an indication of what a significant proportion of that Government believes. It is a racist comment and I believe it is also more than that; it is an incitement to violence. It suggests an endorsement of what happened in Huwara. If one reads the details it was a shocking violation of the dignity of the civilians-----

10:05 pm

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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They robbed the Palestinians of hope, which will lead to violence.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Yes. It was a blatant attack on people, businesses and houses. It was quite shocking. There was a trauma visited upon children and a sense of insecurity and of fear. It is designed, in line with Mr. Smotrich's comments, to force people out and to create terror. I am in no doubt about that. We have to work with other countries to try to really escalate the international response to this.