Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 27, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleIreland moves to ban trade with Israeli settlements, a symbolic step following its recognition of a Palestinian state. The bill will undergo parliamentary review.
DUBLIN (Reuters) -Ireland's cabinet gave its formal backing on Tuesday to drafting legislation on restricting trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, but the bill is unlikely to be passed by parliament until later in the year.
While Ireland does very little trade with the settlements, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said it was a "symbolic move" that follows its official recognition last year of a Palestinian state, alongside a small number of other European countries.
The bill, which would ban the import of goods from the settlements but is unlikely to include services, will be considered by a parliamentary committee in the coming weeks, Foreign Minister Simon Harris said.
A final bill will then go through parliamentary scrutiny before the upper and lower houses vote on it, likely later this year.
"In many ways this is a small measure but it is imperative on all countries to do all that we can to maximize the pressure and conditions to bring about a ceasefire," Harris said, adding that he hoped other countries would bring in similar measures.
The move comes after Britain last week paused free trade talks with Israel and announced further sanctions against West Bank settlers.
The European Union also announced a review last week of a pact governing its political and economic ties with Israel, a step Ireland and Spain first proposed together over a year ago.
A bill limiting trade with settlements in Israeli-occupied territories was first tabled in 2018 by an Irish independent lawmaker but blocked by the then government because the EU, not member nations, is responsible for the bloc's trade policy.
However, the government late last year said that an advisory opinion by the United Nations' highest court in July that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories was illegal would allow it to move forward on the issue.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin and Conor HumphriesEditing by Gareth Jones)
Ireland's cabinet has backed legislation to restrict trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, primarily banning the import of goods from these settlements.
The trade ban is viewed as a symbolic move to increase pressure for a ceasefire and follows Ireland's recognition of a Palestinian state last year.
The bill will be reviewed by a parliamentary committee and will undergo parliamentary scrutiny before being voted on by both the upper and lower houses later this year.
This decision follows Britain's recent pause in free trade talks with Israel and the EU's review of its political and economic ties with Israel.
A similar bill was first proposed in 2018 but was blocked by the government at that time due to EU regulations, which have since been reassessed following a UN advisory opinion on Israel's occupation.
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