Irish Senate passes bill banning Israeli products

The Irish Senate passed a bill that would criminalize importing or selling Israeli products made in Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

By Joseph Wolkin, World Israel News

Ireland’s Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would criminalize importing or selling Israeli goods made in Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

The controversial legislation, known as the Control of Economic Activities (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018, now that it has made it through the Senate will go to the lower house of parliament. It still needs to go through five more rounds of debates before Irish President Michael D. Higgins can sign it into law.

After the bill’s sponsor, Irish Senator Frances Black, celebrating the bill making it through the Senate on Twitter, Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted in reply:

“Truly incredible — the Irish Senate just approved a hateful boycott initiative against a friendly nation. This will not help the Palestinians and just push their leadership further away from negotiations.”

In mid-September, the European Commission warned Ireland that it could face infringement proceedings if the bill passes. According to EU policy, all member countries must abide by a common trade policy.

“The Irish Senate (Seanad Éireann) have chosen to give their backing to the most extreme anti-Israel piece of legislation in Europe,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in its official response. “This bill will not help a single Palestinian and is aimed at negating the historical connection between the people of Israel and the birthplace of the Jewish people.

“This is a bill which selectively uses international courts’ decisions to discriminate solely against Israel and exclude all other cases of disputed territories,” the statement read.

“It is a dangerous piece of legislation as it gives the Palestinians the illusion that external coercion can actually replace negotiations. It encourages Palestinians to continue supporting terrorism instead of engaging in direct negotiations.”