Business with Israel brings ethical questions

Amnesty International’s statement that the Israeli soldier who killed a young Palestinian man ‘may have committed a war crime and should be investigated as such’ seems not to hold any sway in Israel. 

The soldier had his charge downgraded to manslaughter and he was released to open detention at a military base on Friday. The judge from the Israeli military court said the evidence was ‘inconclusive’ and there was ‘reasonable doubt’ despite the entire killing being caught on camera by a human rights activist.

And while Amnesty says Israeli forces have a long history of carrying out unlawful killings with impunity — including extrajudicial executions, it is heartening that the grandson of an Irish stonecutter, US Senator Pat Leahy has taken up the case. Mr Leahy has asked John Kerry to investigate possible Israeli extrajudicial killings and has questioned whether the US should continue to fund Israel to the tune of $3billion each year if there is evidence of human rights abuses.

A similar question needs to be asked in Ireland. Irish companies exported €6.42m worth of military and dual use components to Israel in the last five years. The Department of Defence has said Ireland has purchased in the region of €14.7m worth of military equipment from Israel and Israeli arms companies in the last 10years.

If we accept Amnesty’s position on these issues, there is a serious question to be asked around the ethics of doing any business with Israel.

Orla O’Neill

Lorga Daibhi

Sunnyhill

Kilcullen

Co Kildare