Israel’s ambassador to Ireland has criticised draft legislation aimed at prohibiting commerce between Ireland and Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian regions. The ambassador has labeled the move as an assault on the Jewish community’s “right” to a “safe nation in their ancestral homeland”. The Occupied Territories Bill will be passed onto the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee next week as proof of the Government’s full-fledged commitment towards the bill.
Ambassador Dana Erlich, who departed from Ireland after the country officially acknowledged Palestine as a state, argued that the proposed bill is a prejudiced action designed to single out Israel.
Erlich stated in a Wednesday press release that contrary to the European Union’s trade rules and regulations, the law would inflict unselective damage to all Israelis and would not aid in advancing peace in the Middle East or assist the Palestinian people. She further emphasized that it would be seen as a reward by extremist groups like Hamas, which celebrated Ireland’s acknowledgement of a ‘Palestinian State’ in May 2023.
Erlich expressed disapproval over the attempts to pass the Bill ‘at this moment’, claiming it was a ‘calculating political decision’. She referenced a case brought by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is breach of Genocide Convention. The court determined in January that the possibility of Israel’s actions being categorised as genocide existed. The case remains in progress.
Erlich stressed that the ICJ did not make any rulings against Israel, contrary to the narrative that’s being shared in Ireland. Post Israel’s invasion in Gaza Strip in October, more than 40,000 casualties have been reported with considerable sections of the area devastated due to hunger and aerial bombing. The latest invasion occurred after Hamas initiated assaults in southern Israel on October 7th, where 1,200 people lost their lives.