A senior United States politician has accused the Republic of going down a “hateful, anti-Semitic path”.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Senator Jim Risch said the Occupied Territories Bill “will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering” for the State.
Writing on X, the veteran Republican senator who represents Idaho, said: “Ireland, while often a valuable US partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering.
“If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties. We will always stand up to blatant antisemitism.”
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Senator Risch linked to an article in the Jerusalem Post, which stated that the Republic is the first country in Europe to introduce legislation to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Senator Risch previously raised the issue of the State’s relationship with Israel in his role as committee chairman.
Speaking at the confirmation hearings for US president Donald Trump’s new ambassador to the Republic, Ed Walsh, in May, Senator Risch said it was “heartbreaking to see the mistake that the Irish are making regarding the Jewish state and Hamas”.
“It’s heartbreaking with zero recognition of what Hamas did on October 7th. I truly hope, Mr Walsh, that this is going to be a tough needle to thread when you got a close ally making a mistake, but you have got to thread that needle.”
Senator Risch told Mr Walsh to convey a message to the Republic that the State is “very much out of step with the United States as far as their relationship with those countries in the Middle East”.
Mr Walsh said he was looking at getting a detailed brief on the issues relating to this.
“President Trump has been very clear that Ireland is an ally and there is no room for anti-Semitism across the world,” said Mr Walsh, who was confirmed as ambassador this week.
“It will be a big part of my conversations with them. I hear you. I do understand the issue.”
Reacting to Senator Risch’s X post, former Republic of Ireland ambassador to the United States Daniel Mulhall said he was sceptical that the Occupied Territories Bill can work, “but I do not see it as an expression of anti-Semitism. Its roots lie in a genuine sympathy for the plight of Palestinians rather than in any antipathy towards Israelis.”
