Government accused of 'cop out' over refusal to refer Israel to ICC

Israeli forces raid a Palestinian town of Tulkarem, West Bank, on Tuesday. Picture: Bernat Armangue

“Double standards as usual… It’s a cop out”.

Those were the words of Sinn Féin TD John Brady as he heckled across the Dáil chamber to Fianna Fáil junior minister Seán Fleming, who explained why the Government would not support the referral of the Israeli government to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

While the chamber stayed silent as Mr Fleming began his speech, as he questioned why Sinn Féin was calling for an investigation, voices picked up on the opposition benches.

Mr Fleming said that it is unclear why Sinn Féin was calling for the ICC to investigate, citing that the court is already investigating the matter, adding that there would be “no legal purpose”.

“Indeed it could also be viewed by some as attempting to politicise the issue,” Mr Fleming said, leading to roars from the Sinn Féin benches.

The TDs were heckling the sparse Government benches, accusing them of being soft on Israel despite the Government’s move to refer Russia to the ICC after their invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

However, the junior foreign affairs minister defended the Government’s move, saying that any referral from Ireland would only seek to undermine the independence of the international court.

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“Making a referral to the ICC prosecutor that we do not believe is anything in legal and practical terms and which will be seen as undermining the court's independence and impartiality would, I believe, potentially damage Ireland’s credibility and undermine the principles that underpin our powers,” Mr Fleming said.

Contributions were striking, with Sinn Féin’s Seán Crowe telling the Dáil that by the time the two-hour debate concluded, 12 more children in Gaza would be killed in the ongoing barrage.

Darren O’Rourke, who took to wearing the Palestinian keffiyah in the chamber, said that the world is now “bearing witness” to genocide and war crimes, saying that it harked back to the Nakba — where Palestinians were expelled from their lands after the 1947 war with Israel.

Another Sinn Féin backbencher, Ruairí Ó Murchú, described the pulverisation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

“This is a nuclear power that is pulverising a civilian Palestinian and pretending that Hamas is an existential threat to modern day Israel,” Mr Ó Murchú said, before describing the actions of the Netanyahu government as “chancerism meets absolute racism”.

Earlier in the day, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon told reporters that Ireland needed to go further on Israel, calling for sanctions to be levied against the State.

“We will not stand by and be complicit. I don’t think it’s appropriate for the State to stand back and be content by having the least bloody hands in the room. I think our position can be stronger than that,” Mr Gannon said.

While there is disagreement within the Dáil over whether or not to introduce sanctions or refer Israel to the ICC for war crimes, one thing that has echoed throughout the chamber from deputies is a call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.