Dáil to vote next week on expulsion of Israeli ambassador to Ireland 

Dana Erlich is the current Israeli ambassador to Ireland. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Dáil is to vote on the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to Ireland.

The Social Democrats will bring a motion before the Dáil next Wednesday calling on the Government to withdraw diplomatic status from the Israeli ambassador to Ireland and push for the imposition of EU-wide economic sanctions on Israel.

Dana Erlich is the current Israeli ambassador to Ireland.

The motion also calls for the Government to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court for an investigation on whether the country has committed war crimes in its war on Gaza.

Party leader Holly Cairns said the international community had been "ambivalent" to the suffering of Gazans.

The permissive and ambivalent reaction by the international community to the litany of war crimes and flagrant breaches of international law by Israel has been shameful.

“Israel’s cruel and disproportionate response to the barbaric October 7 attacks by Hamas has, to date, seen more than 11,000 people killed in Gaza — over 5,000 of them children — and resulted in the collective punishment and mass displacement of millions of innocent civilians.

“Our motion calls on the Irish Government to lobby for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the grounds that the human rights clause in the trade deal has been seriously breached. The EU should also suspend Israel’s access to the €95bn Horizon Europe fund for research and innovation.

"Given Israel’s failure to cease the deliberate targeting of civilians, journalists, UN staff and healthcare workers, the Government must withdraw the diplomatic status of the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland."

Sinn Féin will use its Dáil time to bring a motion on the referral of Israel to the International Criminal Court. The party's foreign affairs spokesperson Matt Carthy said Leo Varadkar "stated that the failure of Israel to observe humanitarian law ‘can’t be inconsequential’".

“I welcome those remarks. There must be consequences for Israel's deliberate targeting and killing of thousands of civilians; for the targeting and destroying of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and mosques; for the mass forced displacement of Palestinian civilians; and for the denial of water, food, fuel and other essential supplies to the civilian population of Gaza.

The first consequence should be the reiteration of our demand for immediate ceasefires, for the immediate release of all hostages, and for the unconditional adherence by all parties to their commitments under international law and the UN charter.

“Ireland should also exercise our right as a state party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to refer the actions in Palestine and Israel to the prosecutor of the court for the purpose of requesting an investigation into any acts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide that have occurred in Gaza over the past month. 

"Sinn Féin will bring a resolution to the Dáil next week mandating the Irish Government to make such a referral."