Taoiseach Micheál Martin “categorically” did not tell American Jewish groups that the Occupied Territories Bill had been dropped by the Government, according to his spokesman.
A statement from the American Jewish Committee after a meeting in Washington on Friday said Mr Martin had told the meeting that the Bill was “no longer on the legislative calendar”.
Mr Martin’s spokesman said the Taoiseach had explained that the proposed Opposition Bill was unconstitutional and that, after a debate, a new Bill would be prepared in accordance with the commitments in the programme for government.
The committee statement said: “The Prime Minister said the legislation as drafted is probably unconstitutional and unenforceable. While not dispensing with it outright, he said it was no longer on the legislative calendar.”
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The proposed legislation – the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 – was introduced by Senator Frances Black long before the current wars in Gaza and Lebanon. It is aimed at banning trade between Ireland and Israel’s illegal settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories. Although the Bill passed various stages in the Oireachtas, it has stalled at committee stage in the Dáil since 2020.
Last month, Tánaiste Simon Harris said the Government would amend the Bill to ban the trade of goods, but not services, with Israeli firms operating in occupied Palestinian territories.
The Opposition has criticised the Government over delays in producing the amended legislation.
Mr Martin met the Jewish groups in Washington on Friday after rejecting as “absurd” an accusation of anti-Semitism levelled by Israel’s ambassador to the United States.
Yechiel Leiter suggested, according to a report in the Jewish Insider, that Mr Martin was anti-Semitic, saying: “The battle for anti-Semitism starts with shunning anti-Semites.”
Speaking before his final day of appointments in the US, Mr Martin said the accusations were “false and I utterly reject what he had to say”.
The meeting took place on Friday morning at the Irish Ambassador’s residence in Washington after fears that it would not go ahead due to the withdrawal of some groups.
The Jewish groups expressed concerns about Irish policy towards Israel and what they described as rising anti-Semitism in Ireland, and specifically referenced “attacks on Israel” by President Michael D Higgins.
A spokesman for the Taoiseach said he “welcomed the opportunity to discuss the impact of rising anti-Semitism on Jewish communities around the world, including in Ireland.
“It was a very positive engagement and we agreed a number of actions we can follow up on in the coming time.”
There were indications on Friday morning that some organisations would not attend the meeting with Mr Martin.
Asked why he felt that Ireland seems to have been singled out as an outlier in its position on Israel, the Taoiseach said that he believed “there is an element of a deliberate undermining and a distortion of Ireland’s position”.
“I went to Israel after October 7th in solidarity with the people given what happened in that horrific and barbaric attack by Hamas,” he said, repeating the assertion he made during Wednesday’s Oval Office meeting with US president Donald Trump.
“I’ve called for the unconditional release of hostages from the beginning. We have called for an immediate ceasefire. Israel didn’t like that. But as far as we were concerned the conduct of modern warfare is such that, in urban conurbations, it leads to the killing of innocent civilians to a degree that is not tenable.”
Mr Martin said Friday’s meeting was scheduled following contact from representatives of the Jewish community in the US.
He said: “We’re very open to meeting with as broad a range as possible of representative organisations of the Jewish community in America to engage with them in a respectful way, in respect of our perspective on the Middle East and the conflict and the war in Gaza.”
Senior figures in Israel’s government have accused leaders in the Irish Coalition of encouraging anti-Semitism, with the Israeli embassy in Dublin also announcing last year that it would close.
Israeli politicians have also criticised Ireland’s decision to intervene in South Africa’s case against Israel, with Dublin asking the International Court of Justice to broaden its interpretation of what constitutes genocide.
Mr Harris began his St Patrick’s Day programme in the US on Friday with visits to Philadelphia and New York.
