Legal group warns Dublin’s selective trade ban legitimizes anti-Israel prejudice and economic warfare against Jews”
Israeli civil rights organization Shurat HaDin has appealed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging Washington to intervene against Ireland’s newly approved Israeli Settlements Prohibition of Importation of Goods Bill 2026.
The bill would impose criminal penalties on imports from Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. Shurat HaDin called the legislation discriminatory, politically motivated and a direct act of economic warfare against the Jewish state.
In its petition, the legal group accused Ireland of blatant hypocrisy, noting that Dublin continues normal trade with other disputed territories around the world, including Northern Cyprus, Western Sahara, Tibet and regions under Russian control. Shurat HaDin argued that Ireland is not applying a universal legal principle, but selectively targeting Israel.
Founder Nitsana Darshan-Leitner warned that when a European government criminalizes Jewish commerce from historically Jewish lands while ignoring every other territorial dispute, the result is prejudice disguised as policy.
The organization is asking the State Department to publicly condemn Ireland’s move, review whether Dublin is violating international trade frameworks and consider diplomatic and economic countermeasures.
Shurat HaDin also warned the US Senate Committee on Trade that Ireland’s law undermines the Oslo Accords by replacing bilateral negotiations with unilateral economic hostility.
The controversy comes amid worsening Israel-Ireland relations. Ireland has become one of Europe’s loudest critics of Israel, recognized a Palestinian state, backed hostile rhetoric against Jerusalem and helped fuel diplomatic tensions that led Israel to close its embassy in Dublin.
Shurat HaDin says Washington must make clear that a democratic ally cannot legitimize boycotts, discrimination and economic pressure aimed only at Israel.
