Ireland is fully entitled to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements, experts say

The International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. A recent ICJ advisory opinion called on countries to cease trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Picture: Peter Dejong/AP

Ireland is fully entitled to pass the Occupied Territories Bill and ban all trade with illegal Israeli settlements despite existing advice from the Attorney General, two senior EU trade law experts have said.

A new legal opinion, authored by Takis Tridimas and Panos Koutrakos argues that Ireland is able to pass the Occupied Territories Bill through the Oireachtas and into Irish law.

Mr Tridimas has previously served as a legal advisor to both the European Commission and Parliament, while Mr Koutrakos is the editor of the European Law Review.

The two argue that the Occupied Territories Bill is now “necessary”, due to a recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion which called on countries to cease trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The ICJ ruling, delivered in July, found that Israeli settlements within the West Bank were illegal and should be dismantled “as rapidly as possible”.

In their legal opinion, they argue that the Attorney General has “ignored” judgements in two separate cases — Schmidberger and Omega — which found that member states are permitted to diverge from EU trade law “on public policy grounds in order to protect fundamental rights”.

Advice from the then-Attorney General Seamus Woulfe, which leaked in 2020, set out that there had been an “absence” of specific case law which had gone before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to allow Ireland an exemption.

The analysis and conclusion in the AG Opinion that the Occupied Territories Bill is inconsistent with EU law [is] not only unconvincing but also at odds with settled ECJ case-law.

This new opinion comes as Taoiseach Simon Harris confirmed last week that the Government is seeking fresh legal advice, on foot of the ICJ ruling, over future trade with Israel.

The new Campaign to Pass the Occupied Territories Bill, made up of civil society organisations, trade unions, academics and politicians, has also been launched.

Senator Frances Black, who first tabled the bill, described the ongoing situation in Palestine as having “rapidly deteriorated” since the bill first emerged in 2018.

“While the world is focused on the horrific, genocidal war in Gaza, across the West Bank we’re also seeing one of the biggest land grabs in decades — more homes destroyed, families displaced, settlements built,” Ms Black said.

Spokesman for the campaign and head of policy and advocacy at Christian Aid Ireland Conor O’Neill described the ICJ ruling as “historic”.

The Court has made crystal clear that all countries, including Ireland, must immediately stop trading with Israel’s illegal settlements. Failure to do so makes us complicit.

He added that statements of condemnation are no longer good enough “morally or legally”.

“Over 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the last 11 months. The suffering is on a scale the world hasn’t seen this century,” Trócaire CEO Caoimhe de Barra said.

“We need to introduce sanctions, we need to enact the Occupied Territories Bill and we need to do it now.”