Ireland to pass trade ban on Israeli settlements despite US pressure

Ireland will continue to advance legislation banning the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris has said.

More than a dozen members of the US Congress had called on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to add Ireland to a list of countries boycotting Israel if the Occupied Territories Bill is passed by Dublin.

But Harris said Ireland’s government remains undeterred and “isn’t alone” in carrying out the measures.

“This week we also saw Slovenia take action in relation to trade from the occupied territories, I expect Belgium are likely to do the same and we intend to advance with our legislation,” Harris told reporters on Friday.

“People in Ireland, people in Europe and people right across the world feel extraordinarily strongly about the genocidal activity that we’re seeing in Gaza, about the starving children and we will use all tools at our disposal,” he added.

Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund will also announce changes to the handling of its Israeli investments, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, ruling out any blanket withdrawal over the war in Gaza.

The fund itself said it would provide an update on its Israeli investments on Tuesday. The government this week launched an urgent review of the investments over ethics concerns linked to the war in Gaza and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

“I see several measures over time, but what can be addressed quickly, must be done quickly,” Stoltenberg told a press conference after holding his second meeting with fund officials in three days.

He did not say what these measures could be, but added that there would not be a wholesale divestment from all Israeli companies. “If we did that, it would mean we are divesting from them because they are Israeli,” he said.