Officials in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump have sharply criticized Ireland over its plan to pass a bill that would criminalize the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The legislation, if approved, would make Ireland the first European Union member state to enact such a ban, and could lead to punitive action from Washington.
The bill, formally titled the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2025, is expected to pass with broad support in the Irish parliament. It seeks to prohibit trade with what it defines as “occupied territories,” with a specific focus on Israeli settlements. U.S. officials have warned that the measure unfairly targets Israel and could harm relations between the two countries.
In a post on X, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee mocked the bill, writing: “Did the Irish fall into a vat of Guinness & propose something so stupid that it would be attributed to act of diplomatic intoxication? It will harm Arabs as much as Israelis. Sober up Ireland! Call Israel & say you’re sorry!”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also condemned the proposal, writing: “I hope that Ireland will reconsider their efforts to economically isolate Israel, as they are in a fight for their very existence. I do not believe these efforts would be well received in the United States and they certainly would not go unnoticed.”
Ireland, one of the most vocal critics of Israel within the EU, has faced resistance from fellow member states. Earlier this week, a joint initiative with Spain to advance anti-Israel policies failed to gain the necessary support within the bloc.
At a hearing Tuesday before Ireland’s Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, warned that the bill could exacerbate antisemitism in the country.
“This bill may ‘feel good,’ but does it do good?” Cohen said. “It will not bring the two sides closer together, but it may deepen the fear and isolation of Jewish communities here in Ireland.”
“Let me be absolutely clear: Criticism of Israel is not antisemitism,” he continued. “But when criticism becomes a campaign, when it becomes law — and no other country is treated in this way — we must pause. We must question.”
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Cohen added that the bill was more about political symbolism than policy, urging lawmakers to reconsider. “Ireland can do better. We can be bold without being belligerent,” he said. “I speak as an Irish citizen, born and raised in Dublin, and as a Jew from a small, historic Irish-Jewish community that arrived here in the early 17th century. That community is now increasingly fearful.”