Ireland advances ban on imported goods from Israeli settlements

JTA – Ireland’s Parliament advanced legislation banning imported goods from Israeli settlements, one of Europe’s most expansive trade measures against Israel. 

The bill approved on Tuesday by the Parliament’s lower chamber and drafted by Ireland’s centre-right coalition government prohibits imports of goods from “certain Israeli settlements”. The legislation cites an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice in 2024 that said Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza was illegal under international law. 

Ireland is one of the most vocal critics of Israel in Europe, and a leader on the continent in excoriating Israel’s conduct in Gaza since Hamas’s attacks on 7 October launched the war. The Irish government formally recognised a Palestinian state in 2024, prompting Israel to close its embassy in Dublin, and last month barred far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country. 

Ireland was the first country in Europe to propose an import ban on Israeli settlements, according to Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris. Spain implemented a similar package of import restrictions in October. 

Ireland’s legislation passed without a vote in the Dáil, the principal chamber of Parliament, meaning that no lawmaker sought to challenge it. It heads now to the Seanad, Parliament’s upper house, where it will be debated next week and potentially signed into law. 

Lawmakers in the left-wing opposition parties argued repeatedly for an amendment to ban imported services, such as technological services, in addition to physical goods, such as fruit and vegetables. The amendment was voted down. Paul Murphy, a politician in the People Before Profit-Solidarity alliance, was among those who argued that the measure did not go far enough. 

“We know that on average, 70% of trade is in services rather than goods and that 70% is now being removed,” Smith said during a parliamentary debate before the bill passed. 

The import ban would inflict minimal economic impact. Goods imported from Jewish settlements in disputed areas to Ireland were valued at about €200 000 in 2024. 

Independent Senator Frances Black, who first introduced a bill in 2018 to ban all trade from Israeli settlements, said during a speech in the Seanad on Wednesday that the new bill was “a weaker measure that sadly does not meet our moral or our legal obligations”. 

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said that including services in the bill was “not implementable”. Laws in US states banning dealings with countries that boycott Israel were also a consideration, he told the Irish broadcaster RTÉ. Banning services “would perhaps potentially damage Ireland more than anybody else, in terms of potential impacts on US multinationals based here back in America”, he said. 

Israel has sharply opposed the legislation. After a draft of the bill was published in 2025, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called it “antisemitic” and said that “Ireland will pay a price” if it passed.