Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, Senator Higgins, referred to the movement of weapons through Irish airspace. When asked about policing our airspace in a recent RTÉ radio interview, the Tánaiste replied that it would not be feasible in the Irish context. Will the Leader bring the Tánaiste to this Chamber to explain why he, as Minister for Defence, does not believe it is feasible for a sovereign state like Ireland to patrol and police its own airspace? It is outrageous that a Minister for Defence would say that.

I agree with everything that my colleague, Senator Clonan, has said. What is happening in Lebanon and Gaza is barbarism. Senator Black has been pushing the occupied territories Bill for a number of years. Looking at what is happening to women and children in Gaza, my heart goes out to her over the pain she must feel, having tried time and again to get the Government to pass the Bill. The only way the butcher Netanyahu will ever come to heel is if he is brought to heel economically. He does not seem to give a continental damn about public opinion anywhere else in the world. The barbarism in Gaza is unacceptable.

I was attacked at the weekend because of my membership of the Israeli friendship group, as were a number of my colleagues. Being a member of an interparliamentary friendship group does not mean we are cheerleaders for the other parliament. It means that we can have frank discussions with our opposite numbers. I will not resign from the Ireland-Israel interparliamentary friendship group. The group can fire me if it wants, but it is about having access to colleagues in another parliament. Netanyahu and his henchmen are war criminals.