Palestinian recognition 'not the perfect time, but the right time'

While the Government is keen to downplay that this move is purely a reaction to events since October 7, there is no question that the humanitarian disaster has seen things change

Thousands of people took part in a national march for Palestine in Dublin last week. The march called for the Government to sanction Israel for genocide. Picture: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie

“Today, Ireland, Norway, and Spain are announcing that we are recognising the State of Palestine.”

Standing on the steps of Government Buildings, Simon Harris' announcement was the culmination of years of desire on the Irish side and months of planning among a group of "like-minded" countries who see the act as more than merely symbolic. It came after government dinners, meetings and "constant contact" with the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez.

Asked if this move was merely playing to a populist gallery, the Taoiseach rejected the accusation, saying it was a commitment in the programme for government and something the Government has wanted to do all along, though sources have said the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza, along with settler violence in the West Bank, sharpened minds across the continent.

Of course, Mr Harris is right. The recognition is in the Programme for Government, but it was also a stated aim of the last Government.

In 2016, the minority Fine Gael Government included the commitment, largely due to the representations of independent TD Sean Canney, according to sources.

However, campaigners were left less than enthused at the wording — which came just 18 months after the Dáil had unanimously backed a motion calling on the Government to recognise a Palestinian state.

That Dáil would pass without any move on recognition, though the Seanad in 2018 passed the Occupied Territories Bill — which would ban trade between Ireland and Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank, but which the Government resisted, largely due to advice from the Attorney General.

During negotiations on the formation of the coalition in 2020, the Green Party — led largely by Patrick Costello and Neasa Hourigan - aimed to put the Territories Bill back on the agenda, but was rebuffed by Fine Gael.

Where the Green negotiators found less resistance, which surprised them, was on Palestinian recognition.

One Green source said that both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had no issues with commitment, though the final wording did not go as far as some would like.

The coalition did agree a commitment to oppose the annexation of Occupied Palestinian lands, with then foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney in 2021 slamming the EU for not “calling out” illegal settlements.

In May of that year, Ireland became the first EU country to declare that Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory amounts to illegal de facto annexation, after a Dáil motion received cross-party support.

Simon Coveney said the move gives the Irish position a lot of credibility. Picture: Sasko Lazarov

Mr Coveney told the Irish Examiner on Wednesday that recognition is something that Ireland has “been working on with like-minded countries for years to try to keep a two-state solution alive”.

Crucially, Mr Coveney points to a major change.

“It felt like we were close a number of times, but there was always something that made the timing difficult.

“I would have done this as a foreign affairs minister if we could have got a group of countries, but I felt that Ireland doing it alone would have been a mistake. It would have put us on the other side of the European debate.

“If we had done this alone ... it may have been popular and encouraged Palestinians for 48 hours. But my judgement is that, if Ireland wants to be a serious player on the Middle East peace process, we have to persuade others to come with us.

We have got a major country like Spain and the most serious external country in the Middle East process. It gives the Irish position a lot of credibility.

While the Government is keen to downplay the idea that this move is purely a reaction to events since October 7, there is no question that the humanitarian disaster in Gaza has seen things change as Ireland began to see a route to recognition on a European level.

In January, Tánaiste Micheál Martin hosted a Brussels dinner with ministers from “like-minded countries” to discuss the possibility of recognition, before a call with the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates and bilateral meetings with Norway, Jordan, and Palestine in Munich.

Then taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s joint letter with Mr Sánchez, which called on the European Commission to review a trade agreement with Israel, is seen as the point from which Ireland’s recognition of Palestine became just a matter of time.

In a statement jointly signed on March 22, Mr Varadkar and his Spanish, Maltese, and Slovenian counterparts said they had discussed their “readiness to recognise Palestine”.

In the following days, Mr Martin would speak to representatives from Egypt and Jordan, but the resignation of Mr Varadkar meant that Ireland’s position in the coalition for recognition was somewhat uncertain.

A European Council meeting in Brussels was on the schedule as Mr Harris prepared to be elected Taoiseach, as was a meeting of prime ministers in Warsaw hosted by Polish prime minister Donald Tusk.

With those meetings happening on the Thursday after Mr Harris’ Tuesday ascension, a meeting Mr Sanchez had on the books for the Friday had to be re-requested, something Mr Harris was keen to accept.

The pair have, according to sources, been in “constant contact” on the issue of recognition and have developed a strong relationship — meeting three times in those first days of the Harris era.

While everyone agreed that Ireland and Spain would work in lockstep, there was no date agreed, though media reports that it would happen here on May 21 brought this week into focus.

Another shift came in recent weeks as Norway — long seen as an important European voice on the Middle East — decided it was ready to join. Mr Harris spoke to prime minister Jonas Gahr Stoere for an hour last week both discussing their domestic requirements and, on Saturday, the shape of today’s choreography became clear.

Norway would move first, but Mr Harris and Mr Sanchez would speak within an hour as all three hope for more countries to move.

There is acceptance across the board that recognition would be better in the wake of a peace agreement, but across Europe the sense now is that this was needed to keep any hope of peace alive.

Or, as Mr Coveney puts it, “this is not the perfect time, but it is the right time”.