The minutes of the meeting of 28 June have been circulated. Are they agreed? Agreed. Are there any matters arising?
Business of Joint Committee.
I am not sure that this arises directly. I wrote to the Chairman about a situation in Israel and I wish to refer to it again. It concerns the attempts by the Israeli authorities to frustrate the work of my friend and former partner, Ezra Yitzhak. The Chairman will note, in the material I sent to him, that articles have appeared in Haaretz and some of the American newspapers indicating that the settlers have put a price on his head and he is, therefore, in danger of being murdered. He has continued his peaceful work for the children and elderly in the area in question. Members of this committee visited that part of Israel and were extremely impressed by his work.
The attitude of the police authorities is to arrest him when he is attacked by the settlers. They do nothing about the settlers. He has been charged and will appear in court in September. The settlers have threatened to murder him and the police have done nothing about it. He has again been arrested by the Israelis.
I will write in an individual capacity about Mr. Yitzhak's work and I ask the committee to consider writing to the court because one cannot automatically rely on the word of the police or the army. We have had such difficulty in this country. A note indicating that the committee has taken an interest in this would be very useful — it might even save his life — and would certainly have an effect on the court. In light of that fact, will the Chairman send such correspondence?
It might be appropriate to write to the Knesset's foreign affairs committee, which we met and which intervened for us subsequently. If that is acceptable, it might be a better course for us to take rather than interfering with the court.
No, I know the situation in Israel extremely well. The Chairman would be whistling into the wind with that committee. The correspondence must be addressed to the court.
There is a way of incorporating both suggestions. When we visited Hebron, met Ezra and saw his work, we were very disturbed. The Chairman raised the matter with his counterpart in the foreign affairs committee of the Knesset. To my knowledge, we have not received an adequate response to that representation. It would be appropriate to contact the Israeli ambassador and ask that he transmit, as a matter of urgency, the fact that we have not received an adequate reply. We could also indicate that we have been advised of the circumstances to which Senator Norris referred. I suggest that we add that the committee will also be contacting the Israeli prosecutor's office in respect of this matter. It is highly appropriate at this stage to proceed in that way. If that is what Senator Norris has in mind, I would second his proposal.
Having returned from Palestine only a few weeks ago and having visited Hebron and seen the situation on the ground, I respectfully suggest that the Chairman request the Minister for Foreign Affairs to ask our representative in Palestine, Ambassador Holohan, to be present in the court when this case is heard. Having travelled to Greece on behalf of an Irish citizen on trial, it is my opinion that such a course of action would be very effective. This is a serious matter. Mr. Yitzhak is being victimised and harassed by the Israeli authorities. From experience, I am aware that our representative there is well respected. His presence in the court on our behalf would be vital.
I think there would be agreement on that. We will do both.
I would greatly appreciate that. What they are trying to do is to have him imprisoned on trumped up charges in order that they can then demolish the clinic and do whatever work they want.