Sligo-Leitrim TD shows support for EU proposal to suspend trade deal with Israel

Sligo-Leitrim Minister Marian Harkin has called the proposal from the European Commission to suspend parts of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a “long-overdue step.”

The European Commission has proposed to suspend elements of the agreement which gives Israel preferential access to the European market.

It would include reimposing tariffs on some goods, and freezing mutual benefits related to bidding for public contracts and the protection of intellectual property rights.

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“Ireland has long called for this action and the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza make action even more urgent,” Minister Harkin said.

“The Commission has a responsibility, given Israel’s appalling behaviour in Gaza, to enforce its terms swiftly and decisively.”

“There must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and a massive surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The slaughter must stop. What is going on is genocide under four of the five genocidal acts as defined under international law,” said the minister.

The Commission has also called for sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, as well as violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank and 10 Hamas leaders.

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It is not certain that the Commission will have support of enough of the member states to enact the proposal as states such as Germany and Hungary have pushed back against sanctions on Israel.

The proposal was put forward as Israeli forces press ahead with their offensive in Gaza City, continuing the conflict that has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians, since 7 October 2023, when Hamas paramilitaries invaded towns in southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.

Minister Harkin has also said that she is confident the government will pass the occupied territories act which they laid out in their programme for government.

Minister Harkin has supported sanctions on Israel and has criticised their actions in Gaza, however received criticism earlier this year for not supporting a bill in the Dáil which would have the Irish central bank stop facilitating the trade of ‘Israeli war bonds’ in the EU.