The Government has not been acting in a “hostile” way to Israel in seeking to hold it to account for its actions in its war in Gaza, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said.
Israel has announced it plans to shut its embassy in Dublin, in response to what it claimed was the “extreme anti-Israel policy of the Irish Government”. The decision followed a move by Ireland to intervene in a case taken by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging genocide by Israel in Gaza, where Ireland is now asking the court to widen its interpretation of the term.
Speaking on Monday in Brussels, the Fianna Fáil leader said Ireland’s intervention at the ICJ and its previous recognition of the state of Palestine had been motivated by “respect for international humanitarian law”.
Mr Martin, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs, said supporting the ICJ and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, should not be viewed as a hostile act.
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“Recognising a state of Palestine, which we did with Norway and Spain and which other countries have done, is not a hostile act, and should not be seen as a hostile act,” he said.
The actions of the Israeli army in northern Gaza, where there are daily reports of the killing of men, women and children, is “beyond any moral compass,” Mr Martin said.
“We’ve consistently called for an immediate ceasefire, release of all hostages, and a massive surge of humanitarian aid,” he said. There needed to be “full accountability” for the Israeli military campaign that has destroyed much of Gaza, as well as accountability for Hamas militants who had controlled the Palestinian enclave, and Hizbullah in Lebanon.
Mr Martin called for Israel to “open up” Gaza to the international community and the media, to allow them to “bear witness” to what was happening.
“I have no doubt if that happened, that the world would be shocked in terms of the level of destruction that has occurred there, and the absolute need for an effort for a fundamental change of approach,” he said.
“Ireland, along with Norway and Spain, have taken a lot of hostility from Israel in respect of the decision to recognise the Palestinian state,” he said. That was despite the fact that the “vast majority” of people had long believed a two-state solution was the only way to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine, he said.
The Government had previously rejected calls from opposition politicians to expel the Israeli ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich, citing a desire to keep diplomatic lines of communication open. There are no plans to close Ireland’s embassy in Israel.
Mr Martin was speaking on his way into a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, which will discuss the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the situation in Syria following the fall of the Assad regime.
The meeting is expected to discuss a proposed meeting of EU and Israeli politicians, under the bloc’s “association” trade agreement with the country. Efforts to hold such a meeting, known as an association council, have been stalled for months.
Both Spain and Ireland have been pushing for the trade agreement to be reviewed, in light of human rights abuses by Israel in Gaza. Mr Martin said any meeting of the association council could not be “business as usual” and Gaza had to be on the agenda. The EU is also expected to organise a high-level meeting next year with politicians from the Palestinian Authority, who control part of the West Bank.
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