THE US EMBASSY in Ireland has said the Occupied Territories Bill “risks real unintended consequences” for nearly a thousand American companies and “the hundreds of thousands of Irish jobs tied to them”.

The embassy released a statement this evening criticising the bill, which passed last week and was signed into law by President Catherine Connolly on Thursday. 

“If the goal is to make a meaningful difference for Palestinians, the focus should be on coordinated international efforts that deliver real impact, not symbolic measures that harm Ireland’s economy and will not advance peace,” the embassy said. 

“We urge Ireland to avoid pushing similarly unhelpful initiatives at the EU-level.”

The long-awaited bill was first proposed by senator Frances Black in 2018.

Now called the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026, it makes the importation of goods originating in certain Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank a criminal offence.

In its original form, it sought to implement a full ban on goods and services with the occupied Palestinian territories.

But services was dropped, a move which has been heavily criticised by opposition parties and Frances Black, who has said she will be “fighting tooth and nail” to get a ban on the trade of services with illegal Israeli settlements passed in September.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said such a ban was “simply not implementable” and would also “potentially damage Ireland more than anybody else in terms of potential impacts on US multinationals here, back in America”.

Not including services goes against the recommendation of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, whose members include government party members, who recommended that services be included.

Related Reads

Government's Occupied Territories Bill passes despite criticism over lack of ban on services

Amendment to include goods ‘produced in part’ in Occupied Territories voted down at committee

Taoiseach digs in on Occupied Territories Bill, but concerns grow among government TDs

Last year, a group of US politicians urged the country’s treasury secretary Scott Bessent to examine if the bill would breach American anti-boycott laws.

Israel’s allies in the US also sent a letter to the Taoiseach last year urging him not to pass the bill, arguing it would “economically target” and “demonise” the Israeli state.

In the letter, which was signed by 23 members of congress, they said they were “deeply concerned” about Ireland’s characterisation of Israel’s actions in Palestine as genocide.

The politicians said if the bill passed, it would amount to “singling out Israel”, making it a “pariah” on the world stage.