Official Israeli records show the value of goods imported to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) from Ireland last year is 40 times higher than the figure claimed by Irish authorities.
Though the CSO says €272,000 in goods were exported from Ireland to the OPT, Israel Tax Authority documents, obtained by The Ditch, record the total figure as more than €11 million.
The CSO couldn’t fully explain the discrepancy to The Ditch but suggested it could be caused by how different countries record imports, saying that, for example, Ireland may export goods to a certain country, which reexports these goods to a third country. In some cases this third country may record Ireland as the exporter.
Irish governments have spent six years blocking the Occupied Territories Bill which would ban the export of goods to illegal Israeli settlements.
‘With the Israeli figure 40 times higher’
Israel Tax Authority records for 2024 show 290 transactions of goods imported to the Occupied Palestine Territories with Ireland declared as the country of origin.
The combined value of these goods – including foodstuffs and data processing units – came to €11.14 million. Around two thirds of these imports were transacted in US dollars.
The CSO however told The Ditch it recorded just €272,000 worth of goods for the same period.
Asked to explain the difference – with the Israeli figure 40 times higher – a spokesperson suggested it could be explained by accounting differences.
“One reason for difference could be a country-of-origin vs country of destination basis reporting. In the Irish statistics, exports are reported on a destination basis. We cannot state if the Israel Tax Authority report their imports on a country of origin or destination basis,” said the CSO spokesperson.
“For example, if we (IE) export goods to country A, which are then reexported to country B, the country B will record the imports as being from IE, whereas we will report this as exports to country A,” said the spokesperson.
Last week cabinet signed off a weakened version of the Occupied Territories Bill, which would still permit the export of services to the OPT.
