The former Fine Gael minister for agriculture, Mr Austin Deasy, has called on the Government to break off diplomatic relations with Israel because of the conduct of the Israeli defence forces in the West Bank.
"I don't think it's any big deal," he told the Joint Foreign Affairs Committee of the Oireachtas. "It's a perfectly natural thing to do where people are being slaughtered."
Given the lack of interest in the committee from "the popular media", he was concerned that people in years to come would think the members "sat idly by" in relation to the Middle East.
"We are a sovereign state and we should have our own independent foreign policy in matters like this." Ireland should not be beholden to the European Union and the international media where Israeli influence was disproportionate. "We are just taking the whole thing far too lightly," Mr Deasy said.
The former minister for foreign affairs, Mr Michael O'Kennedy of Fianna Fáil, said he would not support cutting off diplomatic relations. Suicide bombings were unacceptable and the committee should repudiate that practice.
But he had always been very concerned that the Palestinian people were deprived of fundamental rights.
He wanted to see the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority (PA) recognised and respected but the PA should repudiate suicide bombing.
The actions of Israel in recent times were not up to the standards of a country representing itself as democratic. "It is a militarist approach which is totally unacceptable," Mr O'Kennedy said.
Mr Anthony Mannix from the Department of Foreign Affairs said Ireland wanted to see the UN fact-finding mission admitted to Jenin refugee camp without delay. The mission included Garda Deputy Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald, who had "very extensive experience".
The committee chairman, Mr Desmond O'Malley, also opposed breaking off diplomatic relations. "What would be more useful would be some moves in relation to trade."
Technicalities in the EU trade agreement with Israel made it difficult for an individual country to act on the issue but that did not stop people from taking their own action.
The question of invoking the human rights provision in the EU trade agreement with Israel should be investigated. The deliberate military destruction of the EU-funded Palestinian infrastructure was not acceptable, Mr O'Malley said.
Another former Fianna Fáil minister for foreign affairs, Mr David Andrews, said he had accepted an invitation from the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the Palestinian territories this weekend. Mr Andrews is chairman of the Irish Red Cross.