Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform Paschal Donoghue has denied having a phone call with Israeli officials over the Occupied Territories Bill.
Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform Paschal Donoghue has denied having a phone call with Israeli officials over the Occupied Territories Bill.
It comes after reports from The Ditch leaked documents from the Israeli Ministry of Justice which suggest that a confidential phone call had taken place between Minister Donoghue and his Israeli counterpart about the Occupied Territories Bill in 2019.
This bill, if ratified, would impose sanctions on certain Israeli goods over the Israeli treatment of Palestinians and would ban trade with illegal settlements in territories seen as occupied under international law, such as Gaza and the West Bank.
Appearing on Virgin Media News's The Group Chat Podcast, less than a day after Budget 2025 was unveiled, the Minister was asked if the call happened, to which he said “no”, and that what he found “interesting about all of this is groups who won't believe anything at all the Israeli government says then believe entirely something they said. That call did not happen”. The phonecall’s occurrence has been repeatedly denied by Minister Donoghue, adding that he “can't recall” the supposed call. After further clarification, he was “clear” that no such call or any form of contact or communication took place between him or his Israeli counterpart.