The Government is seeking fresh legal advice regarding Ireland’s trade relationship with Israel, the Taoiseach has told The Pat Kenny Show.

Simon Harris this morning confirmed that the Government will stop buying Israeli military equipment.

The move makes Ireland the first EU country to stop buying defence material and equipment from the country since the war began almost a year ago.

Ireland has reportedly spent over €20 million on Israeli defence equipment in the last 20 years – and there has been recent controversy over the possibility of Israeli companies bidding for a new €600,000 Defence Forces drones contract.

Israeli military equipment

On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, the Taoiseach said Ireland must do everything it can to increase pressure on Israel to bring the war to an end.

“We took a decision yesterday that we are not going to purchase any further defence material or equipment from Israel,” he said.

“We're doing this in line with the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“I think it's really important when an international court makes substantial substantive findings, that those findings are given effect in every way.”

He said he has consistently told his EU counterparts that “we must use every lever at our disposal to maximize the pressure on the Netanyahu government to bring a cessation of violence”.

“Therefore, the measure that we've decided to take in relation to defence equipment is an appropriate one that we took yesterday as a further step, in addition to all of the other steps that we've taken - recognising the state of Palestine, voting at the UN in favour of Palestine, increasing the humanitarian aid budget we provide to the UN agency - and a range of other steps.”

International Court of Justice

The ICJ last month found that Israel’s settlement policies and exploitation of natural resources in the Palestinian territories were illegal.

The non-binding ruling found that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem “are being maintained in violation of international law”.

The ruling noted that Israel’s policies amount to an annexation and found that Israel systematically discriminates against Palestinians in the occupied territories.

It called for Israel’s presence in the territories to come to an end "as rapidly as possible” and called on Israel to make reparations for the damage it has caused with its occupation.

Amnesty International has called on the EU to immediately impose an arms embargo on Israel and end trade with Israeli settlements in the wake of the finding.

Trade

The Taoiseach said Ireland has stopped buying defence equipment from Israel on the basis of the ruling – and he is seeking legal advice about the country’s ability to go further.

“Today I'm going to write to the Attorney General and I'm going to seek fresh legal advice in relation to the entire matter of trade in the context of the most recent International Court of Justice ruling,” he said.

“It has been the absolute clear legal advice from successive attorney generals that trade is a European competency and therefore, we need to keep making the case at a European level, which I do with my peers and counterparts.

“But I do want the Attorney General to provide me with fresh legal advice in light of the most recent ICJ judgment over the summer months.”

Human rights

He said Ireland would continue to call for a full review of the EU-Israel trade agreement in the meantime.

“That [agreement] has human rights clauses and the human rights clauses aren't in there to pad out the document,” he said.

“They have to have real meaning and real effect.

“I make this point to every European president and prime minister I meet and will continue to advocate for that.”

Earlier this week, Action Aid Ireland called on the government to take unilateral action against Israel, warning that “we can’t wait for the EU to take action”.

Israeli munitions

It comes as the Government continues to investigate reports that tonnes of munitions destined for the Israeli Army have been transported through sovereign Irish airspace.

Reports that three Israel-bound aircraft carrying tonnes of munitions travelled through Irish sovereign airspace this year were recently published by The Ditch website.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transport told Newstalk that the carriage of munitions through Irish sovereign territory or airspace by civil aircraft is prohibited without a special Government exemption.

They noted that no such exemptions have been granted or applied for in 2023 or 2024.

They said the matter is now being investigated – with department officials “engaging with the carrier concerned”.