Anti-Israel protesters in Israel as part of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Photo: Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign via Facebook.
The Irish parliament on Wednesday night voted down an amendment calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the imposition of sanctions on the Jewish state.
However, Ireland became the first European Union state to condemn Israel’s “de facto annexation” of the West Bank as the government backed a motion from the nationalist Sinn Fein Party, whose foreign affairs spokesperson earlier declared, “we are baldly stating that Israel is acting illegally under international law.”
The Irish government had supported the Sinn Fein proposal in a debate on Tuesday night. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said during the debate on the issue that “we need to be honest with what is happening on the ground and call it out” as “de facto annexation.” He added that the Republic was the first EU country to state this as
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