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Middle East Issues

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 January 2019

Tuesday, 29 January 2019

Ceisteanna (153)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

153. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which he and the international community can continue to exert pressure to bring about an amicable peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4413/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I have given a high priority to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since I took up office and have worked consistently to maintain an international focus on the issue and support for the two-state solution.

I have visited Israel and Palestine three times over the last 18 months, holding meetings with the key interlocutors in both places, including both President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu. I was also delighted to welcome President Abbas to Ireland in September, his first visit in ten years, during which he also had good meetings with the President and the Taoiseach. These visits and meetings have allowed me to raise Ireland's priorities with pivotal decision makers and have helped to inform my thinking on how best to support efforts to advance the broader peace process.

At present, prospects for the resumption of negotiations centre on the peace plan being developed by the United States. I have engaged with the US Middle East team to encourage this initiative and to highlight some of the key issues which it will have to address if it is to be successful. I have encouraged my EU colleagues to take a similar approach.

Regrettably, however, the US administration has made a series of unilateral actions over the past year that have made bringing all interlocutors together for negotiations more difficult. Efforts toward peace are more likely to succeed, when attention is paid to creating the right political context for fruitful cooperation. I have conveyed this view to both US and Israeli interlocutors.

I have spent much time considering how the EU and the wider international community can productively engage and better use the resources at our disposal to influence the parties to the conflict. In December, Ireland proposed a Resolution at the UN General Assembly on a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. This resolution, which reaffirmed the long-standing and broadly agreed parameters for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was adopted by an overwhelming majority of 156 UN states, including common EU support.

I am also convening a small gathering of Foreign Ministers in Dublin in February, to discuss the Middle East Peace Process. Ireland will work with the Palestinians, as well as supportive Arab and European participants, on discussing how best to encourage a move toward a just and durable peace.

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