Sir, – Conor Gallagher’s important report highlighting that Israeli arms manufacturers are still allowed to bid for contracts to supply the Army here is disturbing and underscores a doublethink in the Irish State’s reaction to the ongoing slaughter in Gaza (“Israeli arms companies can bid for Irish drones contract”, News, August 21st). It is even more disappointing to learn that Israeli firms are well-positioned to win the contract to provide the Army with drones and that the Gaza catastrophe has resulted in “no change of policy regarding Defence Forces use of Israeli-made military equipment”.
Both the Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin have recently condemned Israeli actions in Gaza in the strongest possible terms. Mr Harris has observed that “many undoubted war crimes” have been committed by Israeli forces over the past 10 months, while Mr Martin said that it “seems to me that Israel is premeditatedly facilitating and planning the killing of civilians and children” (“The slaughter has to stop”, News, August 11th). Quite rightly, the Government is pushing hard for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, believing that Israel is in clear breach of the attached human rights clauses and that the EU must take action.
Ireland itself, however, has yet to impose its own sanctions on Israel, something that could be done, for instance, through the enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill. The contradictions are made stark by your report. Even though the Taoiseach believes that Israeli forces are committing egregious war crimes, the Government is still willing to buy military equipment from Israel. This is illogical and arguably immoral. One would expect the Government to follow its robust condemnation of Israel with purposeful sanctions. Remarkably, this appears to be the opposite to that. – Yours, etc,
FINTAN LANE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – To keep the progressives happy perhaps the Irish Defence Forces should take a leaf from Vladimir Putin’s book and buy drones from the Islamic Republic of Iran? – Yours, etc,
KARL MARTIN,
Bayside,
Dublin 13.