Ireland to ban trade with Israeli settlements despite US pressures
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Ireland will advance its Occupied Territories Bill, rejecting US Congress members’ calls to add the country to a boycott list targeting "Israel".
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Makeshift houses of the Palestinian Bedouin Jahalin community, bottom, are seen next to the West Bank Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, Occupied Palestine, Monday, June 2, 2025 (AP)
Ireland plans to move forward with legislation prohibiting imports from illegal Israeli settlements, despite a request from over a dozen US Congress members to add Ireland to a list of countries boycotting "Israel" if the bill passes.
Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris stated that Ireland "intends" to proceed with passing the draft legislation despite the opposition, according to the Irish Independent.
Ireland’s coalition government, comprising Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and a group of independents, committed to passing a ban on goods from the occupied Palestinian territories in its program for government finalized in January.
Ireland not alone
A cross-party committee has recommended that the government advance the bill and expand the ban on imports from the Palestinian Occupied Territories to also cover trade in services. Harris said Ireland was not alone in wanting to ban trade with the occupied Palestinian territories.
“People in Ireland, people in Europe and people right across the world feel extraordinarily strongly about the genocidal activity that we’re seeing in Gaza, about the starving children and we will use all tools at our disposal,” the foreign affairs minister told reporters on Friday. “It’s not a surprise that some seek to distort or misrepresent our proposed actions," he added.
Simon Harris emphasized that Ireland is not acting by itself, pointing out that Slovenia recently took similar measures over trade from the occupied territories and suggesting Belgium may follow suit, while reaffirming Ireland's commitment to progressing with its own legislation.
“Of course we’ll continue to engage and explain and never allow our position to be misrepresented," he asserted.
US takes action to protect 'Israel', again
A group of US Congress members sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging him to evaluate whether Ireland should be added to a list of countries boycotting "Israel" should the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) become law.
The letter, which was signed by New York Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney and backed by 16 other congressional members, expresses what it describes as serious concerns about the Irish government's proposed ban on imports from Israeli-occupied territories.
The letter cites Section 999 of the 1986 Internal Revenue Code, which condemns foreign boycotts targeting allied countries, with specific opposition to measures directed at "Israel".
The letter warned that if Ireland were added to the list of countries boycotting "Israel", it would trigger mandatory tax reporting obligations and possible financial penalties for American citizens and companies conducting specific operations in those nations.
The group characterized the Irish government's efforts on the OTB as "part of [a] broader effort aligned with the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement which seeks to economically isolate Israel."
