The new Irish government plans to roll back some of its anti-Israel policies, sparking speculation that it is doing so to appease the Trump administration, even as it remains committed to pursuing a war crimes lawsuit against Israel.

The Dáil, as the Irish parliament is known, convened with its new members on Wednesday for the first time since the country’s November election, and with a more moderate governing coalition than in previous years, formed by centrist parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. 

The parties approved their 162-page “draft programme for government 2025” this week. The section titled “The Middle East” is focused solely on Israel and the Palestinians.

The document says the new government will “progress legislation prohibiting goods from Occupied Palestinian Territories,” referring to a bill that would ban trade with Israelis in the West Bank. Subsequent governments have blocked the bill despite proclaiming support for it because it would violate EU trade guidelines for Ireland to have its own law on the matter, as opposed to following Brussels’ policy.

Irish writer Éamann Mac Donnchada‬ said that the government “only undertakes to progress the Occupied Territories Bill, not to actually pass it into law” is “a modest sign that the incoming Irish government isn’t going to torch the economy on a bonfire of self-love.”

Despite what its program says, the government may not advance the bill at all, according to The Irish Mail on Sunday. The newspaper’s front page led with the headline, “Israeli trade ban will be dropped to appease Trump. Move to be announced before a diplomatic trip by [new Irish Prime Minister Simon] Harris in February.” 

“The bill is now unlikely to ever make the statute books,” the article states, “amid deepening fears it will damage Ireland’s corporate and diplomatic relations with the U.S.”

Incoming Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin told reporters on Sunday that “virtually every section of that bill will have to be amended … I think probably we’ll move towards a new bill in respect of imports into Ireland from the Occupied Territories … It’s acknowledged by all sides in relation to this bill that the bill was unconstitutional as drafted, and in other areas was deficient also.”

The developments are unlikely to make Israel reconsider the closure of its embassy in Ireland, as some of Dublin’s key policies antagonistic to Israel remain in place.

The program still says that Ireland will “continue to seek the application of international law and justice to all sides in the current conflict through the international court system.” Ireland joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice earlier this month, accusing Israel of genocide. 

Harris has defended Ireland’s support for the ICJ case, saying that “Ireland is not anti-Israel but Ireland is absolutely anti the starvation of children.” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar pointed out in response that Israel allows humanitarian aid into Gaza and called Harris antisemitic. 

In addition, Dublin plans to continue to call for a “review” of the free-trade agreement between Israel and the European Union, of which Ireland is a member.

Daniel Epstein-O’Dowd of the Ireland Israel Alliance told Jewish Insider that the government program is “a suite of anti-Israel measures, from the Occupied Territories Bill, to continued persecution of Israel through international courts.” 

Epstein-O’Dowd called the bill “illegal, infringing EU trade law, and antisemitic.”

“A senior Fine Gael [member of the European Parliament] even admitted on national radio only a few days ago that enactment of the legislation would isolate Ireland diplomatically and invite American sanctions,” he added. “For a country so reliant on American investment and jobs, it would be nothing short of economic suicide to enact legislation that would shred Ireland’s diminishing international reputation and would not advance stability in the Middle East one millimeter.”

Amid growing antisemitism against Ireland’s 2,700-member Jewish community, the government program also says it will “give effect to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance ‘Working Definition of Antisemitism’ and implement the EU declaration on ‘Fostering Jewish Life in Europe.'” Martin announced last week that the government had adopted both, without detailing how they would be implemented. Amid activist pressure against the move, Martin emphasized in a later post on X that they would not be legally binding.

“I have been deeply concerned at the current trend of a global rise in antisemitism, both online and offline,” Martin said. “The government takes this issue seriously and we will continue to tackle all forms of discrimination. I believe the step taken today will be an important contribution to these efforts. We will also continue our close relationship with the Jewish community in Ireland and ensure that their concerns are heard.”

Meanwhile, Irish President Michael Higgins has refused calls to cancel his planned address at Dublin’s official International Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony on Jan. 26. Jewish community leaders, including the chief rabbi, Jewish Representative Council and Holocaust Awareness Ireland, have called on him to cancel his appearance.

Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said, “Higgins has neglected even to acknowledge the scourge of contemporary antisemitism in Ireland, let alone do anything to address it. He has failed to take seriously the concerns put to him by representatives of the Jewish community.”

“With that attitude, I fear his address marking Holocaust Memorial Day will inevitably ring hollow for many Irish Jews,” Wieder added.

Higgins’ office said that “he has again and again strongly condemned antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism,” and has made “the clear suggestion that any targeting of Jewish or Israeli people in Ireland is completely wrong and should be addressed immediately by the State and non-State actors.”

Last year, Higgins highlighted the suffering of Gazans during his Holocaust Remembrance Day speech, in addition to mentioning the “horrific and morally reprehensible” Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Higgins has also accused Israel of weaponizing antisemitism accusations to protect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, trying to build settlements in Egypt and violating the sovereignty of Lebanon and Syria, leading Sa’ar to also call Higgins an “antisemitic liar.”

In September, Higgins accused the Israeli Embassy of obtaining and leaking a congratulatory letter that he wrote to new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. It was later found that the Iranian embassy in Ireland posted the letter online.