The Ireland/Israel Special Relationship

09/08/2025

Benjamin Netanyahu, currently wanted by the International Criminal Court to address charges of crimes against humanity

On the 28th May, 2025, after 19 months of evasion and 'legal gymnastics,' the Taoiseach stood in the Dail Chamber and admitted what the world has seen in real time since October 2023: that the Government of Israel, under Benjamin Netanyahu, is committing genocide in Gaza.

What did he do with that truth? He used it as a soundbite while voting down a Bill that would have stopped Ireland facilitating that very genocide through the sale of Israeli war bonds.

Deputy Gary Gannon Dáil Éireann debate -Wednesday, 11 Jun 2025 - Ending the Central Bank's Facilitation of the Sale of Israel Bonds: Motion [Private Members] [1]

Irish Government policy has employed a dual stance in its Israel/Palestinian policy, rhetorically supported Palestinian civilians, but refusing to implement any meaningful ban on economic investment with Israel. 

Ireland is popularly viewed as Europe's most "pro-Palestine" country, but is, per person, the single largest economic supporter of Israel in the world. In 2024 alone, it imported $3.2 billion in goods and services from Israel, over $600 for every resident. [2] Most of these are dual-use electronics: components that power both consumer technology and military drones. [3] This is more than 12 times the U.S. import figure per capita. [4]

Israel's electronics sector is a key engine of its export economy, led by corporations like Intel, operating large-scale chip fabrication facilities inside the state. Elbit Systems and Orbotech, companies known for their expertise in military electronics and advanced manufacturing. Israel is also a major exporter of pharmaceuticals, driven by companies such as Teva Pharmaceuticals., one of the world's largest generic drug manufacturers and a major employer in Ireland. [5]

Elbit Systems unmanned vehicle. Elbit hardware is used in surveillance used against Gazans and the company has been involved in targeting protesters of the war. By Nehemia Gershuni-Aylho www.ngphoto.biz, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115932589

Intel Inside

Therefore, while the Irish government uses the rhetoric of justice and solidarity, its economic role in Israel's genocide is among the most substantial in the world., due to its key location as assembly hub for both electronic and pharmaceutical products. [6]

The Irish government, elected in the 2024 election, due in part to campaign promises to implement the Occupied Territories Bill, which aimed to end trade between Ireland and illegal Israeli settlements, and would have been the first Western country to ban trade with Israel's illegal settlements. [7] 

The government intends to pass a diminished form of the occupied territories bill covering goods (avocados and dates) and not services (technology and tourism); 70% of Ireland's trade with Israel is in services. [8] In fact, the Oireachtas finally passed a watered-down version of the OTB bill on 28th of May 2025 last, banning only goods., not services. On that date, the Government proceeded to vote down a motion preventing the Central Bank of Ireland from facilitating the sale of Israeli government bonds., which underwrite the Israeli war economy. However, by now, Ireland has intensified the very economic service linkages the original bill aimed to disconnect. [9]   

On 28th May, 2025, the Government voted down the Restrictive Financial Measures (State of Israel) Bill 2025, drafted by the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisors that would have given the Minister for Finance the power to end Ireland's involvement with Israeli war bonds. [10]

The Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers indicated it would likely be constitutional.

Israeli War Bonds

Since 7 October 2023, Israeli government bonds have been used to fund the State's war against Hamas. The Irish Central Bank has a special role in facilitating their sale in the EU, as bonds from non-EU countries must have their bond prospectus approved by an EU Central Bank., to be sold in the EU.

Prior to Brexit, the UK carried out this for Israel. After Brexit, Israel chose Ireland to be its 'home country' for this purpose, meaning the Irish Central Bank is responsible for approving Israel's bond prospectus. [11]

Dual Use: Rhetorical and Economic

The Irish Government's dual position on Palestine, utilises rhetoric to gain support from the Irish population with active collaboration with the Israeli Government.

In 2018, the year the original Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) was first introduced, Ireland ran a trade surplus with Israel of about $1 billion (exporting over $1.2 billion, mostly pharmaceuticals and machinery).

By 2024, The Israeli embassy in Dublin, now closed after Israel accused the Irish government of "antisemitic rhetoric," noted that bilateral trade now exceeded €4 billion., especially concentrated in high-tech sectors.

Protest in Dublin against the war on Gaza, 17 May 2025. By Claire Guerin

Conclusion

The Irish government, described rhetorically as antisemitic for criticism of Israeli war crimes, has, due to lobbying, adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism, a move noted for equating legitimate critique of Israel with hate speech.

'Israel's accusations focused on "rhetoric" alone, a telling reflection of where Irish state action begins and ends.' [12]

In their correspondence with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, the CBI stated that they can only refuse to purchase a bond if EU or national sanctions exist on Israeli financial institutions.

As of May 2025, neither Ireland nor the EU have imposed sanctions on Israel. 

This July 25th last, the cross-party Oireachtas foreign affairs committee report on the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) "strongly recommends" services as well as goods should be included in any future Government legislation. [13]

The committee had been engaged in drafting a pre-legislative scrutiny report on the long-awaited Occupied Territories Bill, which includes a series of non-binding recommendations to be considered by the Government.

In response, Taoiseach Micheál Martin stated the Occupied Territories Bill is 'likely' to go before the Dáil and Seanad in early autumn. [14]

It remains to be seen whether the Government's stance can be regarded as 'evasion' or active collaboration with Israel.

Footnotes:

[1] https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2025-06-11/9/

[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/22/which-countries-trade-the-most-with-israel-and-what-do-they-buy-and-sell

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-use_technology

[4] https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/30/irelands-double-game-anti-colonial-rhetoric-meets-neoliberal-imperialism/; https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/22/which-countries-trade-the-most-with-israel-and-what-do-they-buy-and-sell

[5] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/22/which-countries-trade-the-most-with-israel-and-what-do-they-buy-and-sell

[6] https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/30/irelands-double-game-anti-colonial-rhetoric-meets-neoliberal-imperialism/

[7] https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2018/6/; https://www.afri.ie/category/90640/

[8] https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2025/june/draft-occupied-territories-bill-is-published; https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/30/irelands-double-game-anti-colonial-rhetoric-meets-neoliberal-imperialism/; https://www.trocaire.org/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-occupied-territories-bill/

[9] https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2025/0528/1515321-israeli-bonds-bill/; https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2025-05-28/10/  