The European Union and Israel will finally hold an Association Council meeting this afternoon, something the Irish government has requested for a long time.
The Association Council oversees the EU-Israel trade agreement. Ireland has previously suggested that the EU should consider whether Israel has breached that agreement since it includes a requirement to uphold human rights.
The meeting will be attended by EU foreign ministers including Tánaiste Simon Harris along with the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar.
Tánaiste Simon Harris is expected to use the opportunity to repeat Ireland’s commitment to the UN agency in Palestine, UNRWA underline support for a two state solution and to demand Israel respects international humanitarian law.
The European Council, which has organised the meeting in Brussels with the Israelis said that “the parties will engage in a political dialogue, focusing on the conflict in Gaza and Israeli-Palestinian relations, regional issues including Iran, and global issues.”
An EU diplomat said that the meeting was being convened because there are “important issues to be discussed”, but he did not expect any kind of “review” of the substantive trade agreement.
Ireland and Israel have had increasingly difficult relations since the October 7 attacks and subsequent war in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
In December, Israel closed its embassy in Dublin “in light of the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government.”
A “high-level dialogue” will be arranged between the EU and Palestinian authority in March, according to an EU source.