The European Union should suspend its trade agreement with Israel to put pressure on Binyamin Netanyahu’s government over the war and famine in Gaza, former president Mary Robinson has said.
She praised Ireland for showing leadership on the issue and said she wanted to see more states recognise the state of Palestine.
She was critical of the United States and of its president, Donald Trump, alleging he was “complicit in the unfolding genocide”.
“I would particularly like to see the European Union step up. The European Union can do far more than any other grouping by suspending the pillar of preferential trade for Israel under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. And that alone would be a cost to the government and people of Israel,” Mrs Robinson said.
READ MORE
“It’s the extremist government that I blame for this unfolding genocide, not the people of Israel as a whole because they are largely traumatised by what’s happened on the 7th of October of 2023 and the taking of hostages.”
She was speaking on Friday at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin where she was awarded the institution’s Stearne Medal for her contributions to Ireland and the world.
Speaking to journalists afterwards, Mrs Robinson declined to comment on the proposed Occupied Territories Bill in Ireland because of her status as an ex-president.
However, she said: “I’m very pleased that Ireland is considered to be a leader among European countries, and obviously more European countries are now going to recognise [Palestine].
“France, an important G7 country with Canada and the United Kingdom, but also Portugal, Belgium, other countries are recognising [Palestine]. All of that is important.”
She said “all the ingredients that are necessary for peace” were already identified and on the table. These were “the cessation of violence, and reconstitution of Gaza en route to a two-state solution”.
Mrs Robinson said she would be attending the United Nations general assembly in New York later this month to push for peace along with other members of the Elders, a group of former leaders established by the late Nelson Mandela.
She defended the UN’s role, saying the international organisation was “doing an enormously important job of getting what [aid] can be got in, in, together with the Egyptian Red Crescent. This is not the fault of the UN. This is the fault of a bad prime minister, of an extremist government, prime minister Netanyahu, and a bad president of the United States who is supporting him and who is complicit in this unfolding genocide”.
Speaking about a visit she made to the region, Mrs Robinson, a former UN human rights high commissioner, said: “It’s very stark and dreadful to be at the Rafah crossing. It’s silent ... This is a deliberate famine.
“It is shocking that the world hasn’t stopped to reflect on this and deal with it immediately. With the immediate ceasefire that’s on the table, with the immediate release of hostages, with the immediate steps to bring the food and the medicine in that is piled up. There is piles and piles of food, medicine, wheelchairs, generators, all waiting to go in. It is shocking and being there was quite devastating, actually.”
Mrs Robinson declined to be drawn on her views on the presidential election.
