Irish lawmakers to debate expulsion of Israeli ambassador, referral of Israel to International Criminal Court

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - Lawmakers in the Irish parliament, Dail, will vote on the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador next week, according to media reports Friday.

Local media, including the Irish Examiner, reported that Social Democrats are prepared to bring a motion Wednesday to the Dail that demands the government withdraw the diplomatic status for Dana Erlich.

The motion will reportedly call the government to push for the imposition of EU-wide economic sanctions against Israel.

And it will also call for the government to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court for an investigation on whether the country has committed war crimes during its war on Gaza.

Holly Cairns, the leader of the Social Democrats, said the international community had been "ambivalent" to the suffering of Gazans.

“Israel’s cruel and disproportionate response to the barbaric October 7 attacks by Hamas has, to date, seen more than 11,000 people killed in Gaza — over 5,000 of them children — and resulted in the collective punishment and mass displacement of millions of innocent civilians,” she was quoted by the Irish daily.

“Our motion calls on the Irish Government to lobby for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the grounds that the human rights clause in the trade deal has been seriously breached. The EU should also suspend Israel’s access to the €95bn Horizon Europe fund for research and innovation.

"Given Israel’s failure to cease the deliberate targeting of civilians, journalists, UN staff and healthcare workers, the Government must withdraw the diplomatic status of the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland," she said.

The Irish Examiner suggested that Ireland’s biggest party, Sinn Fein, will bring a motion on the referral of Israel to the International Criminal Court.

The party's foreign affairs spokesperson Matt Carthy said Prime Minister Leo Varadkar "stated that the failure of Israel to observe humanitarian law ‘can’t be inconsequential.’"

“There must be consequences for Israel's deliberate targeting and killing of thousands of civilians; for the targeting and destroying of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and mosques; for the mass forced displacement of Palestinian civilians; and for the denial of water, food, fuel and other essential supplies to the civilian population of Gaza,” he said.

“Ireland should also exercise our right as a state party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to refer the actions in Palestine and Israel to the prosecutor of the court for the purpose of requesting an investigation into any acts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide that have occurred in Gaza over the past month,” he said.

"Sinn Fein will bring a resolution to the Dail next week mandating the Irish Government to make such a referral," he added.