Last week Ireland\u2019s parliament tried to strike a blow against Israel \u2014 by delivering a win for Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Irish legislature passed a law banning the import of goods from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and much of Jerusalem, which it calls \u201csettlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.\u201d The measure, the first of its kind in Europe, is meant to spark a broader chain of national boycotts targeting the Jewish state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s part of a growing trend in Europe \u2014 and among congressional Democrats, too \u2014 connected to the anti-Israel\u00a0boycott, divestment, sanctions movement, which aims to delegitimize Jews living in their biblical homeland by treating them as international lepers, with whom no contact of any kind can be had. The ultimate goal of BDS is to\u00a0create a Jew-free zone\u00a0in and around Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Irish politicians have been promoting such a law since 2018 \u2014 but it took the Oct. 7 massacre, and Israel\u2019s subsequent war to rescue its hostages and defeat Hamas, to inspire Dublin\u2019s final push.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamas hears the message loud and clear: Even if it loses on the ground, forcing Israel to defend itself results in big diplomatic victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ireland\u2019s action flouts sharp warnings from the United States. Two different presidential administrations have said that it will mean immediate consequences under US law for the many American companies that have set up shop in Ireland for tax purposes. Particularly since the ban applies even to eastern Jerusalem and other areas that the United States recognizes as being fully under Israeli sovereignty. The US embassy itself is located in an area that the Irish bill treats as an illegal \u201csettlement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boycotts of Israel are as old as the Jewish state itself. All the Arab states adopted a broad one as soon as Israel was created, in hopes of economically strangling the tiny nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1977, Congress prohibited US companies from participating in boycotts of countries with which the United States maintains friendly relations.\u00a0 Decades later the Trade Promotion Authority law, passed during the Obama administration, specifically condemned \u201cstate-sponsored unsanctioned foreign boycotts of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s exactly what Ireland\u2019s law is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US laws ban American companies from complying in any way with an impermissibly discriminatory boycott like Ireland\u2019s. That puts American companies operating there in a legal bind. Moreover, the law requires the Treasury Department to maintain a \u201ccurrent list of countries which require or may require participation in or cooperation with an international boycott.\u201d American companies doing business in countries listed as boycotters face tax and other penalties if they abide by their requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until now, Treasury\u2019s list was made up solely of Arab states like Syria and Iraq \u2014 and it\u2019s gotten steadily shorter, as\u00a0more Arab countries have made peace with Israel\u00a0and started normal trading relationships. Now Treasury must promptly add Ireland to its official list of boycotting countries: If Dublin wants to act like Damascus, it must be treated as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Irish legislators seek to pressure Israel to completely withdraw from Judea and Samaria, and to dismantle all Jewish communities there. But Israel did exactly that with Gaza in the 2005 Disengagement \u2014 and Hamas turned it into a terror base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ireland claims its move upholds international law, but its hypocrisy is glaring. It has imposed no similar rules on goods from other disputed territories \u2014 or on China, despite Beijing\u2019s massive and ongoing human rights abuses. Ireland isn\u2019t about to shutter its movie theaters showing \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d even though parts of it were filmed in Western Sahara, which the United Nations regards as occupied territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its ban applies only to Jewish towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Donald Trump\u2019s first administration clearly stated its opposition to Ireland\u2019s law \u2014 heck, even the Biden administration warned Dublin of \u201cconsequences\u201d if it moved forward. But\u00a0animosity to Israel runs so deep in Ireland\u00a0– the only criticism the law got from opponents was that it doesn\u2019t go far enough – that its legislators decided passing a symbolic Israel-bashing bill is more important than good relations with Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps they think America is bluffing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless, imposing trade restrictions on a US ally as it fights alongside us in a hot war is deeply disrespectful. But Britain\u2019s\u00a0new Prime Minister Andy Burnham\u00a0is reportedly considering a similar measure \u2014 so Trump must nip this trend in the bud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States must make it crystal clear that no matter which countries choose to impose sanctions on an ally, they will face the consequences of US law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n