Taoiseach Micheál Martin has stated certain members of the Israeli government “clearly had genocidal intent from day one” in their response to the Gaza conflict.
He also stressed the importance of the United States using its influence on Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Mr Martin made the remarks as United Nations member states awaited Tuesday’s address from US president Donald Trump at the General Assembly in New York.
Ireland’s delegation intends on using the high-level week to emphasise the dire need for urgent resolution, with Tánaiste Simon Harris lobbying member states for a vote on taking sanctions against Israel.
Having recognised the state of Palestine in May of last year, the Irish Government has been encouraged by the recent succession of countries, including Britain and Australia, falling into step.
The immense suffering of the Palestinian population in Gaza over the past two years has been an affront to the world.
It has horrified people around the world, nowhere more than in Ireland, where people have been moved to sorrow and to anger. pic.twitter.com/bHYgBrO46I
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) September 22, 2025
Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas speaks to a United Nations Summit remotely in New York on Monday. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty
“[To say] the world is becoming very, very angry and frustrated is an understatement in terms of the continued killing in Gaza and the absence of any pathway to settlement,” Mr Martin said, speaking outside the UN headquarters in Manhattan immediately after the opening address.
“The conference today is designed to try and create a pathway to a two-state solution, but we can see what is happening in the West Bank is designed to undermine any possibility of that.
“I think there are many people in Israel who are now very disillusioned with prime minister Netanyahu’s government and the behaviour of minister [Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben-Gvir, who clearly have had genocidal intent from day one.”
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“It’s very, very bleak. The approach of prime minister Netanyahu is absolutely shocking. He seems to be plunging Gaza further and further into the abyss. He is, almost in a premeditated and deliberate way, contributing to the isolation of Israel diplomatically in the international world.”
Mr Netanyahu, who is due to address the UN on Friday, has repeatedly scorned the concept of an international forum on a two-state solution. He has been buoyed by the unwavering support of both the Biden and Trump administrations.
A mood of trepidation hangs over the 80th anniversary of the UN as it braces itself for further criticisms from president Trump, who has cut US funding, deepening the UN’s financial crisis.
Describing Ireland as being “vindicated” in its “solid, grounded” diplomatic support for Palestine and the plight of Gazans, Mr Martin stressed that the outcome of the next few days in New York are “an important moment for the Middle East and Palestine”.