The Israeli Ministry of Justice told a controversial pro-Israel lobby group and US politicians that the Dáil passing the Occupied Territories Bill was “perhaps the worst moment" of 2019 – and spoke of Israel’s efforts to "support the Irish government's stance" of blocking the legislation.
The ministry prepared a 35-page draft document for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) March 2019 conference in Washington, DC to brief the lobby group on tactics to pressure multinational corporations and exploit conflicts with US anti-boycott laws.
"Perhaps the worst moment of this year – was watching the lower house of the Irish parliament pass a bill intended to criminalise imports of 'settlement products' into Ireland,” said senior Israeli state official Marlene Mazel in the draft presentation, which outlined how Israel had already launched "skilled advocacy" targeting Irish politicians.
The conference included three off-the-record meetings and was addressed remotely by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
‘Helping to support the Irish government's stance’
The metadata of the draft presentation, which became public as part of a hack of Israeli state files, indicates that Marlene Matzel was the primary author.
She prepared the document for three off-the-record sessions at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference titled "BDS Update: The Campaign Against Multinational Corporations," "Israeli Advocacy and the Law," and "Lawfare and Israel."
The sessions were to be attended by US politicians including Republican congressman French Hill and feature panelists including former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler. Then US vice president Mike Pence, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (via satellite) and Democrat politicians Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer also attended the conference.
The document describes how the Occupied Territories Bill “led to a flurry of skilled advocacy from supporters – reaching out not only to Irish parliamentarians, but also to businesses that stood to be affected by the legislation.”
While claiming it was "difficult to measure the impact of the advocacy" the AIPAC draft document claims that Israel’s efforts had helped "support the Irish government's stance" in opposing the bill.
The briefing talked about a strategy to make boycotting Israel "a costly proposition" for multinational businesses.
Officials detailed plans to engage "key corporate stakeholders, academics and practitioners in (the corporate social responsibility) field" and secure "public statements from major multinational corporations about the benefits of operating in any conflict zone”.
Last month The Ditch reported that Israeli officials coordinated with US legal organisations to exploit Ireland's reliance on American foreign direct investment to pressure government into blocking the legislation.
The document went on to explain how Fine Gael had blocked the bill. “The Irish government is opposed to the bill and has sought to exercise what is known as money message jurisdiction to prevent the bill from proceeding any further,” it reads.
In September 2024 The Ditch reported that in February 2019 finance minister Paschal Donohoe had a secret "confidential call" with his Israeli counterpart to assure him the government would "block" the Occupied Territories Bill. The AIPAC sessions took place just one month after Donohoe made the call.
The Department of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.
