Claim Paschal Donohoe promised Israel that Government would ...
A claim that former finance minister Paschal Donohoe had a ‘confidential’ phone call in which he assured his Israeli counterpart that the Government would block the Occupied Territories Bill has been denied in the Dáil.
Sinn Féin foreign affairs spokesman Matt Carthy referred to allegations on The Ditch website, that Mr Donohoe, now Minister for Public Expenditure, had given assurances to Jerusalem that economic penalties on Israel would not be imposed.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin told the Dáil today that he had spoken to Mr Donohoe and the claim was false.
The website reported that Mr Donohoe as Minister for Finance had a “secret phone call” with his Israeli counterpart in 2019.
It was alleged that it was confirmed orally that the Government would block the Occupied Territories Bill, which would impose sanctions on certain Israeli goods because of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
The claim about the call with Mr Donohoe was made in documents leaked from the Israeli Ministry of Justice, Mr Carthy said, quoting the website. But Mr Martin said he spoke to Mr Donohoe before he came into the chamber to take Leaders' Questions on Thursday.
“He is clear that he did not make any such phone call,” Mr Martin said.
"His published [ministerial] diary doesn't record any such phone call.
"I think this speaks to people rushing to judgment before ascertaining the full facts."
"He is very, very clear” that there was no phone call, the Fianna Fáil leader added.
The Occupied Territories Bill would have banned certain imports from land illegally occupied by Israel, and imposed sanctions and fines.
The Bill was introduced by Independent senator Frances Black and has been passed by both the Seanad and the Dáil.
However, the Government has failed to enact it and used the ‘money message’ mechanism needed for Bills with financial implications to block it.
The Government had previously been advised by the Attorney General that the Bill could not be enacted because trade was an EU competence, not within the national purlieu.
But Tánaiste Micheál Martin said an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Israel and its breach of obligations was a “very significant turning point” in relation to the Occupied Territories Bill.
Further advice is being sought from Attorney General Rossa Fanning “within the context of the International Court of Justice" advisory notice, he said.
The ICJ’s opinion was a very significant turning point "and Europe has to face up for that reality,” he added.
On Tuesday as the Dáil returned, demonstrators presented a petition of 40,000 signatures calling for the Bill to be enacted.
