2 days ago
Despite the politics, Ireland is Israel's second biggest export market for goods
Perhaps the most surprising statistic to tumble out of the ether in recent days – and into Ireland's increasingly fractious debate on the
Occupied Territories Bill
– relates to
Israel
's exports to Ireland.
Figures from the UN's trade database, Comtrade, reveal that Ireland, despite its outspoken stance on Israel, is Tel Aviv's second most important export market for goods behind the US.
The Comtrade figures show Israel exported $61.7 billion worth of merchandise in 2024. The biggest importers of those Israeli products were the US with $17.3 billion, followed by Ireland with $3.3 billion and China with $2.9 billion.
This makes Ireland, Israel's most important European market for goods exports ahead of the Netherlands ($2.7 billion), Germany ($2.4 billion), the UK ($1.6 billion), Belgium ($1.5 billion) and France ($1.4 billion).
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The figures provide a curious counterpoint to the frayed diplomatic relations between Dublin and Tel Aviv.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) provisionally estimates that Ireland imported €3.83 billion ($4.4 billion) of goods from Israel last year, which is even higher than Comtrade's estimate.
Over 95 per cent of this trade (€3.65 billion) falls into the 'electrical machinery, apparatus, and appliances' category, the CSO said..
In Comtrade's categorisation, the bulk of the trade is covered by the 8542 category which applies to 'electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies'.
Anecdotal evidence suggests this – in the main – relates to chip manufacturer Intel in Leixlip importing inputs from its sister
Intel
plant in Kiryat Gat, Israel, which would not be affected by the Occupied Territories Bill provisions.
Ireland's dialled-up rhetoric against Israel (Taoiseach Micheál Martin now explicitly accuses it of genocide, having previously accused it of 'genocidal acts') sits uneasily with the economy's links to corporate America.
However, apart from a warning from former US ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin, last year that Ireland's proposed Occupied Territories Bill (banning the sale or import of goods from illegally occupied Palestinian territory) would have 'consequences', both the US and Ireland have largely ignored their potential point of division, perhaps to Israel's annoyance.
Government sources claim Ireland's business ties with the US 'aren't overly strained' by the Government's stance on Israel and that tariffs are the main focus at present.
With Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu now lashing out at allies France, Britain and Canada, accusing them of being 'on the wrong side of history' and 'emboldening Hamas' for criticising Tel Aviv, Ireland's stance has more political cover.
Shifting global opinion
Last month, EU foreign ministers from 17 member states (a majority) backed a Dutch proposal to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the free trade agreement that allows Israel sell some €15 billion a year of arms, wine, cosmetics and other items to Europe on preferential terms.
This marked something of a turning point in the bloc's attitude to Israel. A year ago, when Ireland and Spain, the European governments most vocal about Israel's actions in Gaza, pushed for a review, they garnered little support.
But Israel's three-month blockade of Gaza, stopping food and aid getting into the Palestinian enclave, has burnt through the political capital Israel traditionally has with the EU and with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen who has – until now -sought to preserve EU-Israeli ties.
In a marked difference in tone last week, she described Israel's attacks on civilians as 'abhorrent' and something that 'cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law'.
The EU's review will examine whether Israel is in breach of article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which defines respect for human rights as an 'essential element' of the agreement.
Given the scale of Israeli atrocities in Gaza, backed by findings from the UN, international courts and other agencies, it's hard to see how Israel could not be found to be in breach.
The review might be complete before the next EU foreign ministers' meeting on June 23rd, creating a potential flashpoint in EU-Israeli relations.
How EU sanctions against Isreal – if it comes to that – will wash with the US and impact delicate trade negotiations is impossible to say.
The EU as a bloc is Israel's largest trading partner, accounting for 29 per cent of its trade in goods in 2022, so trade sanctions would be consequential for Tel Aviv.
But insiders suggest that while the review will be critical of Israel, the EU will resist going down the sanctions route given the opposition to those in some quarters.
Hungary, which intends to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) in protest at its issuing of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, recently hosted the Israeli prime minister on a state visit despite of and in defiance of the warrant.
'I don't think EU sanctions will be forthcoming in the short term. There isn't unanimity for this,' a Government source said, albeit noting that negative noise among EU member states is growing.
