According to Taoiseach Simon Harris, the Attorney General will advise the Government next week on whether Ireland has the right to take unilateral action against Israel, including trade, which is within EU jurisdiction, in response to the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, reports RTE.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in July that Israel had violated international law by establishing settlements and exploiting natural resources in Palestinian areas.
All nations should “review diplomatic, political, and economic interactions with Israel, to ensure they do not support or provide aid or assistance to its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory,” according to a September United Nations statement, reports RTE.
Mr. Harris stated that while he agreed that the EU had jurisdiction over trade, the government would receive guidance.
“My Government will receive formal advice from our own Attorney General as to what we may be able to do in this area, because the context has very much changed since the ICJ advisory opinion was given in July,” he told reporters upon arriving in Brussels for the inaugural EU-Gulf Cooperation Council meeting, reports RTE.
“I would even go so far as to declare that nations who support the ICJ no longer have that option. Actions must be taken to assist put that opinion into practice.
Mr. Harris stated that after the ICJ ruling in August, he consulted the Attorney General.
According to him, the government believes that the ruling from the ICJ is a “game changer”.
“We want to see if it is now possible to move ahead in terms of trade restrictions, in terms of the occupied Palestinian territories, in light of the obligation that the ICJ advisory opinion places on all of us to do everything we can to end what is an illegal and unlawful occupation,” reports RTE.
The Taoiseach stated that he was not in Brussels to engage in a “confrontation” with the European Commission about the trade problem. He is attending both the EU-GCC meeting and a summit of EU leaders.
“I’m here to take steps that can help bring about peace and political dialogue. I absolutely understand that trade is an EU competence. I absolutely support that reality. I’ve also argued consistently since becoming Taoiseach, as my predecessor did before me, that the EU Israel Association Agreement is the way to proceed. What I am saying very clearly here today, what I will say at the meetings, what I will say in my engagements bilaterally, is the ICJ advisory opinion is a game changer in terms of the context,” reports RTE.
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