Ireland will shortly formally recognise the State of Palestine, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has told the Dáil.
Speaking on Tuesday evening in a debate on the appointment of the new Cabinet, following the election of Simon Harris as Taoiseach, Mr Martin said that the approach of delaying recognition “is not credible or tenable any longer”.
He said he had been in discussions about recognition with other countries involved in peace initiatives in Gaza, adding: “It is my intention to bring to Government a formal proposal on recognition when these wider international discussions are complete.
“But be in no doubt recognition of a Palestinian State will happen.”
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It is understood that Ireland and some other EU states will announce formal recognition of Palestine once a peace initiative – expected in the coming weeks – is under way. Sources were reluctant to put a date on this but said it would be “sooner rather than later” and was a matter of weeks rather than months.
“For the past six months I have maintained ongoing discussions with ministerial colleagues in other countries about how a joint formal recognition of Palestinian statehood could be a catalyst to help the people of Gaza and the West Bank and in furthering an Arab led peace initiative,” Mr Martin said.
“We have agreed that the undermining of the Oslo Accords and therefore the agreement to create two states has reached a point where the Accords’ approach of recognition after a final agreement is not credible or tenable any longer.
“I have discussed this with those in the region who are working on peace initiatives and co-ordination with other countries continues intensively,” he said.
Mr Martin also said that the he was “in no doubt that war crimes have been committed and I utterly condemn the ongoing bombardment of the Gazan people.”
He also took aim at Opposition parties, saying: “There are those here who believe that angry speeches and unilateral action is the answer to everything – but our approach of building international alliances through the hard work of direct diplomacy will achieve far more for the Palestinian people.”
The case for officially recognising Palestine has long been discussed in Government, with successive ministers suggesting that Ireland had no objection in principle and would recognise the Palestinian state when it could contribute to the peace process in the Middle East.
However, the war in Gaza has given the issue new impetus and it is understood that Mr Martin has been in discussions with a number of other EU governments on the issue in recent months.
While Mr Martin did not give a specific timescale, sources say that the move is likely to come “within weeks” and will be announced as part of a multilateral peace initiative to end the war in Gaza.
Mr Martin has recently been in discussions with the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and well as “like-minded EU countries”, including Slovenia, Malta and Belgium.
At last month’s EU summit in Brussels, former taoiseach Leo Varadkar met with the prime ministers of Spain, Slovenia and Malta after which they issued to statement declaring their “readiness to recognise Palestine,” adding they stand ready to do so “when it can make a positive contribution and the circumstances are right.”
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