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“CAPITOL HILL IS Israeli-occupied territory.” So once observed the American conservative commentator and 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential candidate, Pat Buchanan, in his typically biting, provocative fashion.
Although the controversial progenitor of “Trumpism” was attacked by his foes for what they deemed a bigoted remark, there is an absolute truth within it.
For the Israeli lobby, of which AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is the most well-known component, wields extraordinary clout in Washington, DC and in statehouses across the United States. By way of example, AIPAC spent millions of dollars to “primary” and defeat two congressional Democrats last year who they considered overly sympathetic to the Palestinian cause in the wake of the horrific events of 7 October 2023.
It is wrong to assert that Ireland no longer has any influence in the US. We do, but like virtually everyone else, we operate at a much lower level than Israel.
There has been abundant, accurate reportage chronicling the movement of the hearts and minds of some Americans, especially the young, to the Palestinian side. College and university campus rallies on their behalf involving both students and faculty aggrieved by the grossly disproportionate response of Israel to October 7th are widespread. Politically speaking, however, more telling is consistent polling data showing that a greater degree of sympathy for the latter, while still registering at 46% according to Gallup, is in decline.
This is due in no small part to a growing sense of revulsion in the US at the dreadful scenes of what is happening to the innocent residents of Gaza. That said, this sentiment will take time to percolate to the top. In the corridors of power and in the administration of President Donald Trump today are unflinching champions of Israel who reject the notion that there even is a Palestine, demand the complete eradication of Hamas and want the men, women and children of Gaza to go somewhere else – to be forcibly relocated if necessary.
The question posed repeatedly to me is, Why do Americans perceive things so differently than the Irish? It’s not altogether straightforward. There are numerous factors. First, from early childhood, my generation and our predecessors were fed a steady diet, in popular culture and beyond. In sum, other than Israel, the Middle East is full of people who despise us and our country. Lots of them are participants in or supporters of terrorism against us. Israelis, conversely, are just like us, and we need to be on their side without exception.
Second, in the aftermath of the immeasurable tragedy of the Holocaust, European Jews joined a sizeable community in the US. They worked hard and prospered in every imaginable arena. Simultaneously, they were rightly determined not to let anyone forget the evil perpetrated by the Nazis. As a consequence, for many – definitely not all – the safety of Israel was a paramount concern in their political engagement. AIPAC et al demand fidelity to the Jewish State created in 1948 above all from those seeking endorsements in their quest for public office.
Third, they have been bolstered by the inexorable rise of a key ally. Evangelical Christians are now a dominant force within the Republican Party and are behind Israel no matter what, for biblical reasons. One of the prominent voices in this important political grouping is former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, currently President Trump’s Ambassador to Israel.
In this context, the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB), which would prohibit the import of goods (and maybe services) produced in illegal Israeli settlements, is slated for pre-legislative scrutiny by an Oireachtas committee in the months ahead. The largely symbolic OTB’s effect will not be significant in the grand scheme of things, as most of its backers admit, yet the initiative has not gone unnoticed by Israel’s friends in the US. The pending bill has been described as furthering “a hateful, anti-Semitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering. If this legislation is implemented, America will have to reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties.”
These are the words of the Chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, not a fringe player, with regard to the OTB. Moreover, these are not isolated sentiments. In political and business circles, the recent breakdown in diplomatic relations between Ireland and Israel and the manifest transatlantic attitudinal dissonance on the Middle East have been greeted with dismay. Anecdotally, plenty of Irish Americans have expressed their strenuous disagreement with me about where Ireland is on this one.
Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz interrupted a 3 July Newstalk radio interview on the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial to ask Ciara Kelly: “Why is it that Ireland itself as a country has become the most anti-Zionist, the most anti-Israel, the most anti-Semitic country in all of Europe? What is it about Ireland that makes it different to every other country in Europe in terms of the rampant antisemitism?”
Crucially, the accusations being hurled by a conservative Republican and a liberal Democrat, respectively, are not toothless. There is a legal dimension. The Irish Times reports that legal advice intended “to serve as a summary of the potential legal and political risks that US companies doing business in Ireland will necessarily have to confront should the 2025 Act, or similar boycott legislation, be enacted” argues that the OTB “conflicts with US federal and state laws designed to prohibit BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) activity directed at the state of Israel.”
The lawyers also point out that “many US states now require companies to certify that they do not, and will not, boycott Israel (including the occupied territories) as a condition of doing business with that state.” Additionally, The Irish Times quotes a political source who says that “Ireland’s attacks on Israel and this legislation in particular are going to increasingly become a focus of attention in the Administration, Congress and US companies doing business in Ireland and the potential impact on Ireland would be huge.” This correlates with what I have been told on multiple occasions.
Undaunted, advocates for the OTB dubiously contend that Israel’s friends in America will overlook this “transgression” and that the US courts will rule that the relevant federal and state laws are inapplicable here. More persuasively, they say that now is the moment for this country to take an uncompromising stance against an unfolding genocide – to lead, not to cower, come what may.
That is a challenge to us who, to reiterate, are appalled at what Israel is doing and believe the moral case for the OTB is unassailable, in a vacuum. But we live in the real, not an ideal, world. Given the regrettably hostile milieu detailed above, the fact that Ireland is already squarely in the firing line on tariffs, etc and the undeniable limits of what has been proposed by Senator Frances Black and others, this is a perilous path to go down.
Passionate campaigners for those suffering so badly in Gaza allege that politicians’ caution on the Occupied Territories Bill is tantamount to cowardice. To the contrary, because of the magnitude of the risk it clearly entails to the economy and, in turn, society, caution is entirely appropriate. As we hope and pray that ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire will succeed, and a sustainable peace will result, it seems inescapable that collective European action on this front would be vastly preferable to Ireland’s going it alone.
Larry Donnelly is a Boston lawyer, a Law Lecturer at the University of Galway and a political columnist with TheJournal.ie.
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