The Workers’ Party has called on Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, to expel the Israeli ambassador, in response to the scale of killings of Palestinians by the Israeli army in recent days.

Speaking on the matter, Workers’ Party Cllr. Éilis Ryan said:
“The killings we have witnessed in recent days are all the more horrific because they coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, the mass exodus of Palestinians from their homeland, which will be commemorated tomorrow.

Those past seventy years have seen a brutal and ever-growing occupation of Palestinian lands by the Israeli state, culminating in the current attempt to assert Jerusalem as the capital of the Israeli state.”

Cllr. Ryan continued:
“Ireland must send a clear signal that the Israeli state’s behaviour is unacceptable, to the extent that Ireland no longer wishes to maintain diplomatic relations with that state. This means, effectively, the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador. This should be done without delay.

“Just two months ago, our Minister for Foreign Affairs saw fit to expel a Russian diplomat because of unproven speculations by the British Prime Minister. Now, we have a situation where over 50 people, including several children the youngest of whom is 14, have been murdered in cold blood, and Minister Coveney has yet to make a statement.”

The Workers’ Party councillor concluded:
“Israel has claimed it is responding to ‘violent protests.’ But these protests were sparked by unilateral moves by the Israeli state to make Jerusalem the de facto capital of Israel – symbolised by the opening of the United States embassy there.

“The appropriate response to this unilateral expansion by the state of Israel is to expel their senior diplomats from Ireland.”