Mary Robinson: 'President Trump is the only one who can put real pressure on Netanyahu'

‘Frankly, I’m not sleeping as well at night, because it’s really hard to absorb,’ said the former president.

Christina Finn reports from New York

FORMER IRISH PRESIDENT Mary Robinson has said US President Donald Trump “is the only one who can put real pressure” on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking to reporters in New York, where she is taking part in a number of events at United Nations High Level Week, Robinson said Netanyahu does not want to know about a ceasefire or a two-state solution.

“We should not have a discussion of a two-state solution at one level, and a complete denial of it by the Prime Minister of the country involved, backed up by the United States administration, when there is a deliberate famine and an unfolding genocide,” she said.

Robinson spoke about her recent visit to the Rafah border at an event last night of European and Arab foreign ministers, where she said she became very emotional recounting what she had witnessed. .

“Because it is very emotional when you’re there. It really is shocking, a human induced famine, deliberately sending back 70% of the lorries, denying medical care and denying access to 130,000 malnourished children… It is really, really a shame, a stain on our humanity,” said Robinson.

She said it was important for members of the public to play their part and attend protests, but Robinson said she is also concerned about people’s mental health issues due to the world witnessing what is happening in Gaza on a daily basis.

Former Irish President Mary Robinson says what we are seeing happening in Gaza is ‘dehumanising all of us’. pic.twitter.com/8NKkPbhFKr
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) September 22, 2025

“Frankly, I’m not sleeping as well at night, because it’s really hard to absorb, because it is dehumanising all of us… what is it to be human… what is life when the lives of Palestinians are there to be exterminated? That’s what we’re talking about, starving [people] to death, it is shocking,” she said.

The former president also spoke about the state of the world and the response to conflicts.

She said the response to the Russian-Ukraine war “is for everybody to militarise, make them faster, make them more potent”.

The world is “very lucky” that there has not been a nuclear explosion in the last few years, “either through misadventure, mistake or a false warning or whatever, and we’ve had very near misses. We’re getting into such danger land”.

Advocating for more women in leadership positions, across the board, Robinson said gender equality, parity of leadership, and 50% of the governments of the world being led by women is something we should aspire to.

If 50% of governments around the world were led by women ‘is there any doubt that it would be a much safer world’ asks former president Mary Robinson pic.twitter.com/r1y0GPMSkz
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) September 22, 2025

“Is there any doubt that it would be a much safer world, a much more caring world, a world where we would not have a human induced famine, because women’s leadership is not perfect. Women are not necessarily better than men. It’s the balance that is important, the balance between women and men.

“We haven’t got that at the international level, we haven’t got it at the business level, at the technology level, or any level sufficiently, so it’s something that we’re working towards,” she concluded.