Ireland Moves on Banning Trade With Israel-FIRST EU Country to So

[Ladybbird]

Ireland Becomes FIRST EU Country to Move on Banning Trade With Israeli Occupied Territories

Irelands Tanaiste hopes other EU countries will initiate their own domestic legislation to ban trade with Israel

IrishCentral 28 JUN 2025







Irelands Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris TD, published the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Prohibition of Importation of Goods Bill on Wednesday, 25 June




The General Scheme was presented and approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday.

The scheme delivers on the commitment in the Programme for Government to progress legislation prohibiting import of goods from the settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory following the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice CJ of 19 July, 2024.

Irelands Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says that the main purpose of the Bill is to prohibit the importation of goods into the State from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

Any such importation will thereby become an offence under the Customs Act 2015, and the prohibition created by the Bill will also then engage the customs powers under that Act, including those relating to search, seizure, and forfeiture.

The scheme proposes to use the Israeli settlement postal code system currently employed by the EU in differentiating Israeli goods from settlement goods in order to identify goods of settlement origin for the purposes of the new Bill.




A Significant Step Forward....

The Tanaiste said on Wednesday that the situation in Palestine remains a matter of deep public concern and reiterated that the Government will use all levers at its disposal to address the horrifying situation on the ground and to contribute to long term efforts to achieve a sustainable peace on the basis of the two State solution.

He said in a statement: Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal and threaten the viability of the two State solution. This is the longstanding position of the European Union and our international partners. Furthermore, this is the clear position under international law.

I have been absolutely clear that we have yet to see an adequate response at EU level to the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, notably as regards trade with Israeli settlements.