I support Senator Ryan's call for a debate on the situation in Israel. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs conducted an important debate on the issue. Elements in the treaty of association between Israel and the European Union require that if Israel is to derive economic benefit from the treaty, certain standards of human rights should be maintained. In view of this, and as a friend of Israel, I requested the attendance of the Minister for Foreign Affairs at the committee to examine the possibility of triggering these mechanism as a punishment for the misbehaviour of the Israeli Administration. On the other hand, if we are concerned with religious matters we should also, in an even handed manner, direct our minds to the way in which the Christian minorities are treated in all the Arab and Muslim countries.