EU-Israel Association Agreement: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Fiona O'Loughlin (FF), Administrative Panel

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil grouping in the Seanad, I am very pleased to move this motion. The motion is very clear in what it attempts to do. It is expressing our very deepest concern regarding several measures by the Israeli Government that contravene human rights and violate international law and international humanitarian law and condemns the shocking treatment of EU citizens, including Irish citizens, from the Sumud flotilla. The flotilla was illegally detained by the Israel Defense Forces in international waters. It specifically calls out the unacceptable behaviour of Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who posted videos of their mistreatment on social media. It refers to the recent approval of the death penalty by the Israeli Parliament as a very grave violation of fundamental human rights and then covers a number of different areas.
Why did we bring this forward at this time?
The motion very much looks at the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which was agreed in 2000. It is a treaty granting Israel preferential trade and access and establishing political co-operation with the EU. It includes a binding human rights clause that has become very central to a lot of the debates that we are having currently. I wish to acknowledge and support that the Taoiseach contacted the President of the EU Council last week. In that contact, he expressed very grave concern regarding the shocking treatment of EU citizens from the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was illegally detained by the IDF, as well as expressing grave concern about the very unacceptable behaviour of the Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Many of us have seen footage of how the Minister treated these people with absolute contempt and tried to make a laugh of them. It was absolutely shocking. We cannot have a situation where the EU continues with a business-as-usual approach to Israel when it is behaving in a way that is so fundamentally at odds with the very basic principles and values of the European Union.
Within the Fianna Fáil Party, we believe that action is absolutely required at EU level. At the very least, this must include the banning of products from Israeli settlements and the suspension of parts, if not all, of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. I acknowledge that the Taoiseach has requested an urgent discussion on this among EU leaders at the next meeting of the European Council, which is happening on 18 and 19 June when it is due to discuss the situation in the Middle East. It has always been the Taoiseach's view and our view that it is far preferable to see action at a European level as we believe that would be far more impactful than unilateral national action.
The core argument for suspending the agreement centres on Article 2 of the agreement, which makes respect for human rights and democratic principles an essential element of the treaty. It is our view that Israel's conduct constitutes an absolute breach of this clause, and therefore, legally should trigger suspension. UN experts have stated that Israel's actions amount to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, making continued preferential trade incompatible with EU human rights. We all recognise and know this, but it always important to put on the record that recognised bodies are recognising this as well. There have been systemic violations of international humanitarian law. The International Court of Justice, ICJ, found that Israeli policies violate Article 3 on prohibiting racial segregation and apartheid. Over 1 million European citizens have signed the European citizen initiative demanding suspension. More than 90 humanitarian and human rights organisations have demanded suspension. That suspension is both legally justified and morally necessary.
Ireland has consistently made clear that each of the EU's bilateral relationships must be grounded in respect for international law and our fundamental principles. We have consistently drawn attention to the EU's strong opposition to Israel's settlement policy and activities and to all actions that undermine the viability of the two-state solution, including extremist settler violence. In response to a request from a number of Ministers, on 20 May last year the EU Foreign Affairs Council agreed to a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. That decision reflected the grave concerns held by member states regarding ongoing Israeli military operations and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. It is clear from the finalised review that Israel is in breach of its human rights obligations. That is significant in itself. We all know how long sometimes it can take to get agreement and get final significant findings. Ireland has always been very forthright at EU level that there must be concrete options for follow-up action to this review. The review cannot just happen on its own and have findings that are not acted on.
In advance of the April 2026 Foreign Affairs Council, the foreign Ministers of Ireland, Spain and Slovenia wrote to request a discussion on the EU-Israel Association Agreement at the next meeting of Ministers. At that time in that correspondence, the three Ministers from those three countries called for the suspension of the association agreement. At the May 2026 Foreign Affairs Council, foreign Ministers finally reached political agreement on the Commission's proposal to sanction extremist Israeli settlers and entities, as well as leading Hamas figures. This followed the decision of the new Hungarian Government to lift its previous veto on the proposal. That is important. That is why the change in the Hungarian Government was important in terms of how we move forward. At that meeting, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, welcomed the decision on sanctions, and once again called on the EU to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement or at a minimum to suspend the trade elements of the agreement as previously proposed by the European Commission.
When we look at the statistics and figures we see that trade relations are important. Israel is the EU's 27th largest trading partner, representing about 0.8% of the EU's total trade in goods with the world in 2025. Israel is the EU's third biggest trading partner in the Mediterranean region after Morocco and Egypt. The EU is Israel's biggest trading partner, accounting for 31.7% of Israel's total trade in goods with the world in 2025. A total of 33.1% of Israel's imports came from the EU while 29.4% of the country's exports went to the EU. The total trade in goods between the EU and Israel in 2025 amounted to €43.3 billion. We all know, sadly, that the situation in Gaza has deteriorated since the outbreak of the conflict with Iran. Humanitarian conditions remain dire and life threatening, with the humanitarian aid operating environment massively constrained by Israeli-imposed import restrictions and impeded movement of UN agencies and NGOs. As a country and as a nation, we continue to have very grave concerns about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. Since the Gaza ceasefire, 834 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and over 2,300 injured in Israeli military operations. There is also very deep concern regarding the sharply deteriorating situation in the West Bank, particularly the massive expansion of settlements and the rampant and escalating settler violence, which continues in an atmosphere of impunity. Israeli military operations have displaced at least 40,000 people since January 2025 and have caused widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and homes.
I wish to raise some of the recent legislation in Israel, which is absolutely shocking.
On 30 March, the Israeli Knesset passed a Bill mandating death by hanging as the default punishment for West Bank residents convicted of terrorist acts by a military court. The law will apply differently in the West Bank and in Israel. In the West Bank, Israeli citizens and residents are explicitly excluded, with the legislation specifying that it shall not apply to them. This is basically targeting nationalistic motives attributed to Palestinians while effectively exempting Israeli citizens. Compounding this unequal treatment, Palestinians in the West Bank are tried in military courts and Israelis are tried in civilian courts.
Ireland as a country has condemned the law passed by the Israeli Parliament to expand the scope of the death penalty. Ireland is consistently and strongly opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances, but we have to be particularly concerned about the discriminatory nature of the law as it relates to Palestinians. The implementation of this law would give rise to very serious breaches of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
In regard to the flotilla, we know that an Israeli interception operation began on 18 May. Fourteen Irish citizens were detained over the course of these operations between 18 and 19 May. The detainees began to arrive at Ashdod port in the early hours of the morning of 20 May. That afternoon, video footage circulated by Israel's national security minister showed detained participants, including Irish citizens, being treated with an incredible lack of dignity and respect. In response, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade made statements condemning this treatment as well as demanding the immediate release of the Irish citizens. At that point the Taoiseach wrote again to the President of the European Council, António Costa, to express grave concern regarding the shocking treatment of EU citizens from the Sumud flotilla and the unacceptable behaviour of the minister. Thankfully, we know that the detainees were released and are safely home, but it is shocking to listen to their stories about how they were treated. We in this House have to absolutely condemn the way they were treated on a humanitarian mission bringing humanitarian aid. While they were in the detention centre and at Ramon international airport, a team from the Irish Embassy went to meet with them to give consular advice to Irish citizens but that was not permitted. That too is shocking.
As violations of international law continue in Gaza and the West Bank in an atmosphere of impunity, the treatment of the participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla is yet another expression of Israel's disregard for the rule of law and, as such, forms part of a pattern of behaviour that the Government has consistently argued requires an appropriate response by the EU. I commend this motion to the House.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28