Ireland moves to ban goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank

Ireland's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Helen McEntee, has brought legislation to the Cabinet looking to ban the importation of goods originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The bill, formally entitled Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill, is currently limited to goods only, although some politicians in Ireland are looking to extend the ban to services as well.

According to Ireland's Central Statistics Office, the goods affected amount to just over $230,000 annually, consisting largely of fruit. Business groups had warned that extending the ban to services could pull foreign multinational companies into unworkable sanctions.

McEntee says she hopes to have the legislation enacted before the summer recess in July. She also hopes to pass the law alongside Belgium, the Netherlands, and possibly Slovenia, which have also committed to introducing similar bans.

If the bill passes, Ireland would become one of the first EU member states to pass such primary legislation, with Spain the only country to have introduced similar curbs so far.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin defended the exclusion of services, saying it was "not implementable" and that including them could "potentially damage Ireland more than anybody else." Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris said Ireland would be among the first EU countries to pass such legislation but stressed that collective European action would have a far greater impact.

Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman rejected the exclusion of services, telling reporters that the government was making "a political call" to weaken the bill. "I don't accept that argument," he said, insisting there was no legal impediment to including services.

The bill has faced opposition from Israel, some US lawmakers, and business groups. A group of US lawmakers wrote to Martin last year warning the legislation could damage US-Irish relations.