DUBLIN — An Irish government minister on Friday defended proposed limited trade restrictions on goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying the measure was a narrow effort to comply with international law rather than a broader sanctions campaign against Israel. Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, said the draft legislation would apply only to a small range of products such as dried fruit and would not cover services or broader trade categories. He stressed the bill’s “extremely limited” scope to counter criticism from Israeli and U.S. officials who have accused Dublin of adopting discriminatory policies. The initiative is not expected to be enacted before the end of 2025 and would have a minimal economic impact, touching only about €200,000 worth of imports a year at most. Byrne said the intent is to align Ireland’s trading practices with international legal obligations relating to territories considered illegal under international law, not to target the State of Israel as a whole.
The proposed legislation — formally titled the Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 is an evolution of a long-standing effort by Irish legislators to restrict economic activity tied to settlements deemed illegal by United Nations conventions and the International Court of Justice’s recent advisory opinion. This year’s version deliberately limits its reach in part to avoid legal and diplomatic disputes arising from broader sanctions or trade bans, especially in services, which Dublin’s own legal advisers have described as more complex to regulate. Critics within Ireland have called for even stronger measures including expanding the ban to services and investments, a move backed by the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee and some civil society advocates but the current government has opted for a more restrictive approach amid concerns about legal, diplomatic and economic repercussions. Proponents argue that distinguishing between settlement goods and other Israeli products allows Ireland to take a principled stand on human rights and international law while mitigating trade backlash. Opponents including business groups and some EU partners have urged caution, saying unilateral restrictions risk fragmentation of broader European Union trade policy and could undermine Ireland’s own economic interests due to its reliance on trade with both the EU and the United States. Observers note that Dublin is trying to strike a balance between domestic political pressure in support of Palestinian rights and the diplomatic sensitivities of imposing trade limitations on products from disputed territories.