Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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183. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland will leave the IHRA given the organisation's hosting in recent days of Benjamin Netanyahu who is considered by the Government to be guilty of committing genocide (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29554/25]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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190. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on whether it appropriate for Ireland's official definition of antisemitism to come from an organisation that in recent days hosted Benjamin Netanyahu, where he claimed that the position supported by the Government, that Israel is deliberately halting the entry of aid into Gaza, is antisemitic misinformation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29713/25]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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204. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to justify the adoption of a definition of antisemitism formulated with the input of the Israeli state considering his own comments that the Israeli state instrumentalises accusations of antisemitism to undermine support for human rights (details supplied). [30482/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 183, 190 and 204 together.

I propose to take PQs 29713, 29554 and 30482 together. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) is an intergovernmental organisation with a mandate focused on Holocaust education, remembrance and research. It was established in 1998 at the initiative of then Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, and currently consists of 35 member countries, 8 observer countries, and 9 Permanent International Partners, including the United Nations, the European Union, UNESCO, the OSCE and the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, as well as a number of civil society organisations.

Ireland has been a full member of the IHRA since 2011. We engage with the full scope of its work on Holocaust remembrance and education, of which the IHRA definition of antisemitism is one part. We continue to value the purposes and principles behind the core mandate of the IHRA, of education, research, and preservation of memory.

The non-legally binding definition was adopted by the IHRA plenary, which consists of all Members States, in 2016. Ireland has always kept the question of endorsement of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism under review. The decision to endorse the IHRA definition was a result of careful consideration, taking into account a range of developments and initiatives at EU and at global level, in particular the alarming rise of online and offline antisemitism.

The Chairpersonship of the IHRA rotates annually among Member States on a voluntary basis, and is currently held by Israel. It is the Chair’s prerogative to host supplementary meetings during their term. The Ministerial Conference referenced in this query was a meeting held by Israel in their capacity as IHRA Chair.

Neither membership of the IHRA nor endorsement of the IHRA definition precludes or prevents legitimate criticism of the Government of Israel.

I strongly condemn the continuing Israeli military operations in Gaza, which have brought fresh suffering to the people of Gaza and have breached the ceasefire. Israel's plans to expand its military operation in Gaza and establish its prolonged presence are extremely alarming and will further compound an already dire situation.

The Government has consistently condemned any arrangement for humanitarian assistance that does not ensure access for the entire population. Israel's decision to take control of the distribution of humanitarian aid through private contractors has been described by the UN as unacceptable and designed to further control and restrict supplies.

The obstruction of life-saving aid by Israel is a violation of its international obligations. Israel must fulfil its obligations under international humanitarian law and agree to an immediate end to hostilities and a full, unimpeded resumption of humanitarian aid delivery.

Ireland's approach at EU and international level remains grounded in the belief that the only just and sustainable peaceful solution, for both Palestinians and Israelis, is a two-state solution based on 1967 borders, with the State of Israel, and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign, and viable State of Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security and mutual recognition, with Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both states.