DUP suggests Sinn Fein is holding back on Israeli diplomatic expulsion to avoid riling up American support base
The DUP has suggested that Sinn Fein is moderating its stance on Israel in order to placate observers in the USA.
The DUP’s United States spokesman David Brooks MLA made the comments after the News Letter reported on what appears to be a public split in Sinn Fein on the issue.
Despite some members favouring the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, and saying so openly, the Sinn Fein top brass have stopped short of demanding that.
One MP, Chris Hazzard, issued a tweet which was supportive of the idea on Wednesday, but when the News Letter looked for the tweet this morning it could not be found.
Mr Brooks issued a statement to the News Letter saying: “Sinn Fein can be found allied with despots and dictators across the world, only ever shying away under the glare of public scrutiny outside of Northern Ireland.
"Only days after Russia invaded Ukraine it was a Sinn Fein MP tweeting pro-Kremin propaganda.
"Whether lining up alongside Putin or Hamas, Sinn Fein happily do so for the home audience, but are less keen on their foreign policy stance being drawn to the attention of those who attend lavish fundraising dinners in the United States.
"There was no difference of opinion within Sinn Fein in 2021 when they enthusiastically supported a call within Belfast City Council to expel the Israeli ambassadors in both the UK and Republic of Ireland.
"Any apparent division now has nothing to do with a change of heart, and more to do with identifying which elements of Sinn Fein are concerned about the wider world seeing their true position, and those who simply don’t care.”
The News Letter has sought clarity from Sinn Fein on its position, and is awaiting a response.
The long-term aspiration of most mainstream western politicians, and of many Israelis and Arabs, has been a two-state solution: a sovereign Israeli state roughly within the country's 1967 borders, and a sovereign Palestinian state next to it.
In this vein, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (basically the old government of Palestine) agreed to recognise Israel in 1993.
Almost the whole world – with the exception of a number of Arab states, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Cuba – officially recognises Israel today.
Palestine meanwhile is recognised by 135 of the other 194 states in the world (including by Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, and India) but not by the western powers: the USA, UK, France, Germany, Canada, or Australia.
Ireland also does not recognise Palestine.
In 2014, the House of Commons voted by 274 to 12 to recognise Palestine as a state (with five DUP MPs being among the 12 who voted against), but this vote was not binding on the government.
According to the UN Office for the Co-Ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as of Tuesday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza was reporting 3,000 Palestinians killed, and Israeli sources were reporting 1,300 Israeli fatalities – though precise confirmations of numbers are proving impossible to obtain.