Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade publishes report of the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill

Read the report and its recommendations in full here. 

The General Scheme of the Bill provides for the prohibition of the importation of goods originating in the illegal Israeli settlements located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.  

This is intended to ensure that Ireland is compliant with its international legal obligation, as identified by the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion of 19 July 2024, to take steps to prevent trade relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 

The scheme proposes to use the Israeli settlement postal code system currently employed by the EU in differentiating Israeli goods from settlement goods in order to identify goods of settlement origin for the purposes of the Bill.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy John Lahart said: 
“The issues raised by this draft legislation are highly significant as it seeks to ensure that Ireland is compliant with the 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice."

“Our report includes a recommendation to extend the prohibition of imports from the Palestinian Occupied Territories to include services whilst the Government should also continue to pursue urgent action at the European level."

“We have also recommended that a range of scenarios on the potential repercussions of the measure be published. These should examine the implications of the Bill both in terms of international relations and economic effects."

"The Committee also believes that the Government should engage comprehensively with businesses in relation to the measure – to give them clarity and certainty as to its implementation and to work with them to combat misinformation about the Bill”.

A number of recommendations of the Committee are highlighted below: 

•    The Joint Committee strongly recommends progressing the Bill and that the prohibition of imports from the Palestinian Occupied Territories should be extended to include trade in services, in line with the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice and the Resolution which Ireland co-sponsored at the United Nations General Assembly 

•    The Joint Committee recommends that the title of the Bill be the ‘Illegal Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods & Services) Bill’. 

•    The Joint Committee recommends that the Government continues to advocate at EU level for further collective action against illegal Israeli settlements, on the basis that they violate international law, are contrary to peace, and undermine the prospect of a two-state solution, and that the EU continue to oppose settlement expansion. 

•    The Joint Committee recommends that to give clarity and certainty to business, the implementation of the legislation should draw on similar measures introduced in 2014 regarding Russian-occupied territory. 

•    The Joint Committee recommends that the Government consider the section on defences in the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 when finalising the legislation. 

•    The Joint Committee recommends that the Government continues to engage in proactive diplomacy at EU, UN and US levels, with a public communications campaign to inform the public and international observers of the relevant facts of the legislation and to address any misinformation or misconceptions. 

•    The Joint Committee notes that no data was available to it to ascertain the quantity of services imported from the Occupied Palestinian Territories and recommends that the Minister attempts to obtain and publish this information. 

•    The Joint Committee notes that potential repercussions from the international community, in terms of both international relations and economically, are unknowable and recommends that the Minister undertakes efforts to establish and publish a range of likely scenarios. 

Notes to Editor: 

In June 2025, An Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and for Defence, Simon Harris TD, forwarded the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill to the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade in accordance with Standing Orders for the purposes of pre-legislative scrutiny. 

The Committee agreed to undertake pre-legislative scrutiny and has sought to scrutinise the proposed legislation and provide recommendations on areas where it believes changes or amendments are warranted. 

In July, the Committee engaged with 18 representatives of key stakeholders at pre-legislative scrutiny meetings in public session, which are detailed in the following section of this report.