LAST UPDATE | 26 Oct 2023

TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said he won’t berate other nations into seeing Ireland’s position on the Israel-Hamas conflict, stating today’s European Council meeting in Brussels is about trying to build a consensus on a ceasefire. 

Speaking to The Journal before the European People’s Party (EPP) Summit in Brussels this morning, Varadkar also confirmed that he will not be raising any further concerns with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about her trip to Israel after the 7 October attacks where she pledged Europe’s unwavering support for Israel. 

“I discussed that with Ursula already, so I don’t plan to raise it again. My main focus really here at the EPP Summit and then also later on at the European Council is for the European Union as one to agree to call for a humanitarian ceasefire.

“And we don’t have unanimous support for that at the moment. I don’t really mind what language is used. I think it’s important that the fighting should stop and that humanitarian aid get into Gaza, and that the US citizens and other foreign passport holders should be allowed to leave. Protecting our citizens is really, really significant and important for us. So that’ll be the focus,” he said. 

Varadkar, her EPP colleague, stated last week that he believed some of her comments “lacked balance”.

It is expected that the controversy will be raised at the EPP Summit today, where party leaders and heads of state are in attendance alongside the likes of Varadkar and von der Leyen. 

As president of the European Commission von der Leyen was fast to pledge support to Israel, despite concerns that the country’s response to the 7 October Hamas attacks would have catastrophic impacts for Gaza’s civilian population. 

“The European Union stands with Israel,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter, the day Hamas attacked civilians and captured hostages, alongside a picture of the European Commission headquarters lit up with the Israeli flag.

As events in the Middle East continued, the United Nations and others warned that Israel’s siege of Gaza in response to Hamas’ attack amounted to an illegal act under international law.

On 13 October von der Leyen and Metsola visited Israel to express solidarity.

But by the following day von der Leyen appeared to be feeling the pressure, issuing her first statement to acknowledge the threat to Gaza’s civilians. In it she announced that the EU would be tripling its humanitarian aid.

“There is no justification for Hamas’ heinous act of terror,” she wrote in a social media post. “Israel has the right to defend itself. At the same time civilians in Gaza are also victims of Hamas.”

The majority of Irish MEPs have accused the Commission President of overstepping her mandate.

It is expected to be a tense couple of days for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Brussels, with Ireland seen as somewhat of an outlier among EU states Europe in terms of its position on Palestine.

However, he said that Ireland has a unique perspective on the issue of peace agreements, stating we have to move from position of conflict to a new peace initiative.

“I know that may seem unrealistic now. But we know from our history (in Ireland), that peace is possible. And that’s part of the message I’ve been bringing here,” he said ahead of an EU summit of the leaders of the 27.

Reaching agreement on the terms of a ceasefire call and communiqué could be difficult, he conceded: “We’re not a federation. We’re not a super state.

“We’re a European Union of 27 member states. And different countries have different opinions and different views. We work together very successfully when we can — look at the Eurozone, look at the Single Market. Look at how Brexit was handled, how we dealt with the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Varadkar said there is a need to understand the origin of Germany and Austria’s strong support for Israel and also be aware that Hamas is an Islamic resistance movement.

“There are lots of countries that have experienced very serious, extreme Islamic related attacks,” he said.

“I’m not going to be berating people,” the Taoiseach added

“What I am going to be trying to achieve is a consensus EU position that calls for a ceasefire, calls for the fighting to stop, so that we can get aid in and maybe potentially even begin talking about peace again and the long term solution,” he said. 

While the overall aim for the Taoiseach is for the EU to call for a humanitarian ceasefire, Varadkar said “we’re not going to put a timeframe on it. We’re realistic in that”.

“It may be the case that Hamas isn’t willing to observe a ceasefire, you know, how can you expect one side to observe a ceasefire and not the other. So that needs to be borne in mind. If there is a ceasefire, all parties in this conflict have to abide by it or it won’t last,” he said.

Varadkar said while Israel has a right to defend itself and to pursue terrorists that attack its civilians, how it does so is really important. 

Ireland does have a voice at the table, he maintained, stating that the Irish government hopes to “recenter the common European position to one that’s balanced, one that recognises Israel’s right to defend itself, but also the Palestinians legitimate right to seek to have their own state”.

Ireland’s voice at European level

Sinn Féin has called on the Taoiseach to be the voice of the Irish people at today’s council meeting over the next two days. 

Ahead of the meeting today, Sinn Féin has said that Varadkar must use his voice at European level to urge member states to follow the lead of UN Secretary General, António Guterres.

The UN chief this week expressed deep concern at “the clear violations of international humanitarian law”, calling Israel’s constant bombardment of Gaza and the level of destruction and civilian casualties “alarming”.

He called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to deliver desperately needed food, water, medicine and fuel. He also appealed “to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther”.

His comments resulted in Israel’s ambassador to the UN calling for Guterres’ resignation.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Matt Carthy, called on the Taoiseach to call for the EU to change course in its approach to the conflict, stating that Guterres’ words should be heeded.

“Regrettably, the strength of his calls have not been matched from within the EU.

“In fact, the European Union, which has long championed itself as a leader for peace, international law and conflict resolution, has failed to live up to any of those principles in recent weeks.

“This week’s European Council meeting can be the opportunity to change course. Ireland must be the voice at EU level that condemns war crimes regardless of who commits them,” said Carthy. 

In making calls for a ceasefire, it may be that the Irish government will be in a minority on the European Council, Carthy pointed out. However, Varadkar will represent the views of the vast majority of the Irish people, added the Sinn Féin TD. 

Tense EPP Summit with von der Leyen

Pressure is also on Varadkar to highlight Irish concerns regarding von der Leyen at the EPP Summit today.

Irish MEPs have already criticised von der Leyen, while over 800 staff from EU institutions also penned a letter criticising her and pointing out she did not have a mandate to make such comments. 

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While Sinn Féin has called on Varadkar to use his voice at the European Council meeting, Independent Donegal TD Thomas Pringle told the Dáil last night that von der Leyen’s position should be discussed.

He called for her to resign from her position as President of the European Commission immediately, stating that she was justifying Israel’s horrific decision to cut off food, water and electricity to civilians in Gaza.

“President von der Leyen massively overstepped the mark and her actions are not only unacceptable but also unforgivable and extremely dangerous.  

“She cannot be allowed to continue in her role as President of the European Commission.  In fact, she cannot be allowed to represent the EU in any form any longer. She does not represent Europe as a whole and she certainly does not represent Ireland.”

Difficulties finding European consensus

Speaking in the Dáil yesterday ahead of travelling to Brussels today, the Taoiseach said the European Union does not have a single foreign policy, and when it comes to Israel and Palestine it can be very difficult to find consensus.

“We were able to agree compromise language and that was the basis of the European Council statement the weekend before last.

“We will try to do the same over the course of the next two days. I am sure that on Thursday or Friday in Brussels we will discuss cooperation with Israel.

“At the moment, as we all know, there is very strong support for Israel from most EU member states but that could change. That will depend on how Israel acts in the coming weeks and months.”

Highlighting the words of US President Joe Biden, where he described the events of 7 October in Israel as the Israeli people’s 9-11, Varadkar said the point being made is that Israel should not make the same mistakes the US made.

“It is very clear what he meant because the US made terrible mistakes after 9-11, which caused a lot of hurt in a lot of parts of the world and impacted on its influence.

“The point President Biden was making to Israel, if you read between the lines, was a message of restraint and is one we will be making as well.

“Regarding international law, our view as the Irish Government is that collective punishment that deliberately targets civilians and civilian infrastructure is a breach of international humanitarian law no matter who does it.

“We have been very clear and consistent on that. I cannot speak for the President of the European Commission or other member states, and nor would I, but I understand that other member states come from different perspectives.”

Because of the Holocaust, “a lot of countries feel historic guilt because of their involvement in that. We have to understand that”, Varadkar added.

The Taoiseach said it is a valid suggestion that Ireland would try to build an international alliance that looks for a ceasefire first and a peace initiative later.

However, he said to have any influence we cannot take absolutist positions.

“Once you take an absolutist position your influence is gone, unless you have other forms of power. You cannot be an honest broker in that kind of scenario.”

Political Editor Christina Finn will be reporting from the EPP Summit and the European Council meeting in Brussels over the next two days. Follow @christinafinn8 for all the updates.