Foreign Conflicts

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 March 2018

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

Ceisteanna (33)

Clare Daly

Ceist:

33. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will contact the Israeli Prime Minister and bring to his attention that while he condemned Iran at the Munich Security Conference on 18 February 2018 in relation to an incursion (details supplied), in the period from 1 July to 30 October 2017, Israel violated Lebanon's airspace 758 times for a total of 3,188 hours and that since 2012, Israeli aircraft have violated Syrian sovereignty on roughly 100 occasions in the course of bombing targets in Syria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11916/18]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

The persistence of Israeli flights over Lebanon has from time to time been raised with Israel by Irish Ministers and officials, particularly in the context of discussing issues surrounding Ireland’s deployment of troops with UNIFIL. I am also aware, of course, that both Lebanon and Syria remain officially in a state of war with Israel, with the most serious recent conflict taking place in 2006. Attacks have been launched on Israel from both locations. Ireland of course believes that an end to conflict, and to the formal state of war, is very much in the best interests of the entire region.

The engagement of Iranian military forces in Syria is already unwelcome and unhelpful. The recent incursion into Israeli airspace of an Iranian drone launched from Syria was quite clearly rash, provocative and dangerous, and led to an immediate escalation of violence which was thankfully of brief duration.