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LAST UPDATE | 11 Jun 2025
THE GOVERNOR OF the Central Bank of Ireland has come under intense questioning from TDs in relation to the Bank’s facilitation of the sale of Israeli State bonds within the EU.
Gabriel Makhlouf and other senior personnel at the Central Bank appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Service Reform and Taoiseach this afternoon.
The session was organised to allow TDs and senators to ask questions about the Central Bank’s role in facilitating the sale of Israeli bonds within the EU, an issue that has moved up the political agenda in Ireland in recent months.
During the Central Bank’s appearance before the committee, Makhlouf argued that the Central Bank does not need to consider the UN Convention on the Prevention of Genocide when carrying out its work in relation to facilitating the sale of State bonds.
Earlier today, opposition parties backed a motion in the Dáil tabled by the Social Democrats, which called on the Government to stop the Central Bank from facilitating the sale of Israeli State bonds.
This comes just weeks after a Sinn Féin bill, which sought to prohibit the Central Bank from facilitating the sale of the bonds, was defeated in the Dáil.
Government bonds – like those sold by Israel – are generally sold to investors on international stock exchanges. Their sale is facilitated by central banks.
Israeli bonds are not listed for sale on the Irish Stock Exchange; however, the Irish Central Bank has a special role in facilitating their sale in the EU.
To be sold in the EU, bonds from non-EU countries must have their bond prospectus (a legal document setting out details of the bond) approved by the Central Bank of a country that is in the EU – in the case of Israel, this country is Ireland.
Since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 2023 and Israel’s subsequent bombardment and siege of Gaza, there has been mounting pressure on the Government from pro-Palestinian activists in Ireland to stop the facilitation of the sale of these bonds.
As the Israeli government uses some of the money collected via the sale of the bonds to fund its actions in Gaza, activists and many opposition parties in Ireland have dubbed them “Israeli war bonds”.
Makhlouf, the governor of the Irish Central Bank, told committee members today his organisation is limited in its mandate under EU law and that it has no power to impose sanctions on any state or person for breaches or alleged breaches of international law.
He said the Central Bank cannot refuse to approve the Israeli bond prospectus on the basis of certain international law rulings or opinions, namely the International Court of Justice’s provisional ruling in the ongoing genocide case taken by South Africa against Israel.
In recent times, activists have argued that as the Irish State is bound by the UN Convention on the Prevention of Genocide (an international treaty which means states must act to prevent and punish genocide), the Irish Central Bank must stop facilitating the sale of Israeli bonds, which are being used to fund Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Last month, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris both said they now believe what Israel is doing in Gaza amounts to genocide.
When asked by Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty if the Genocide Convention applies to the Central Bank, Makhlouf made the distinction that it applies to the Irish State, not the Irish Central Bank.
“We have to operate within the rules that have been set down for us. So in this particular case, the rules make no reference to the Genocide Convention, so we can’t take it into account,” Makhlouf said.
“So the point you’re making governor, is the Central Bank, even though the State is a signatory to the Genocide Convention, the Central Bank does not have to comply with that?,” Doherty asked.
“In performing its functions under the prospectus regulation, correct,” Makhlouf answered.
He added: “In the context of the prospectus regulation, it’s not something that we take into account.”
Asked again by Social Democrats acting leader Cian O’Callaghan if the Central Bank is governed by the Genocide Convention, Makhlouf said: “No we are governed by the prospectus regulation.”
When asked by O’Callaghan if he has legal advice to that effect that could be shared with the committee, the governor said:
“I mean, I get lots of legal advice from lots of people. I don’t make a practice of sharing the legal advice I get.”
The current prospectus for Israeli bonds will expire on September 1 2025.
Pearse Doherty asked if the Central Bank will take any additional steps when deciding whether to approve the new prospectus, if Israel seeks one, and said they should be sold with a warning to investors “that you could be funding genocide”.
A similar question was later asked by Labour TD Ged Nash, to which Makhlouf said the Central Bank would expect the Israeli bonds prospectus to set out “any new developments that are relevant”.
“I think the intensity of the conflict in Gaza probably does put a question mark over whether the financial viability of the state still remains secure. The fact the European Union has indicated it is going to look at its cooperation agreement with Israel, I mean I think that’s a factor. The fact the finance minister has just been sanctioned by a number of countries, that may be a factor.
“So I think there are a number of factors… clearly you would expect, in view of what’s happened in this conflict, that some impact on the financial affairs on the state would be material. But in the end, it’s for the state to make the judgment whether it does affect its financial standing or not, we don’t make that assessment,” Makhlouf said.
Earlier in the session, Makhlouf began his remarks by saying he is “absolutely appalled by the horrific loss of life and destruction we are seeing in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories” and expressed his desire to see a ceasefire in the conflict.
“For the avoidance of doubt the Central Bank does not issue, sell, trade or list these bonds,” Maklouf told the committee.
“And in the case of Israeli sovereign bonds, we do not authorise or supervise them and they are not listed on a stock exchange we regulate.”
Makhlouf said that as an EU member state, Ireland is obliged to approve the sale of bonds if they meet certain requirements.
“As a body established under statute, we are vested with certain powers and functions which we are required to perform. And we are required to perform and exercise these in the manner in which the legislated tasks are assigned to us, following the law and in line with how it frames our responsibilities,” Makhlouf said.
Makhlouf also told the committee that by approving the bonds, “the Central Bank does not endorse the issuer and does not endorse the securities”.
“Rather, it means the Central Bank is satisfied that the issuer has disclosed the required information, in the required manner, to potential purchasers of the securities, so that investors can make their own informed investment decision.
”In effect, the Central Bank is carrying out a role mandated by EU law.”
Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip in Palestine has killed more than 54,000 people.
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