Despite international rulings and mounting evidence of genocide, the Central Bank of Ireland continues to approve Israeli war bond sales across the EU

The International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruled in January 2024 that the claim of genocide in Gaza is plausible and specified provisional measures to protect Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention. It specified further additional provisional measures in March and May 2024. Since then, reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and a UN Special Committee have all confirmed that genocidal acts have been undertaken by Israel. The Israeli military is now importing Gaza abuses into the illegally occupied West Bank.

States cannot claim they are unaware of this situation and, as soon as they are aware, they are obligated under international law to deploy all means reasonably available to them to prevent genocide. They become complicit if they provide aid and assistance that facilitates the perpetrators to carry out this crime.

Between the October 7, 2023 and January 2025, $19.4 billion was raised for the Israeli state through the issue of Israel “war bonds” and $4.49 billion of this amount was raised through two underwriters in the EU: BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank. These bonds are marketed as supporting Israel in a time of war and are being used to raise funds to sustain its ongoing genocide against Palestinians and its wars in the wider region.

For Israel to sell its “war bonds” in the EU, the prospectus for these bonds must be approved by a Central Bank in an EU country. After Brexit, it is the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) that carries out this role.

In Ireland people, including DiEM25 members, are supporting the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s (IPSC) ongoing campaign targeting the CBI. They recently brought charges against CBI officials for complicity in Israel’s genocide. This campaign also has regular protests outside and occupations inside the CBI Head Office. In addition, workers at the CBI, Trade Unions, Student Unions, Community Associations, elected representatives at local and national levels and individual citizens are being made aware of the problem and are taking action to impress upon the CBI Governors, and ultimately the Irish Government, to stop the facilitation of these nefarious war bonds. 

Although it is not possible for every concerned person in the EU to directly participate in these on-the-ground activities, each and everyone of us can play a very important role in this campaign for human rights and justice. As the CBI effectively acts as a branch of the European Central Bank (ECB) by enabling Israel “war bonds” to be sold across the EU, citizens/residents of EU countries can join in solidarity with this campaign and help bring the sickening complicity with Israel’s genocide to an end. To do this we are asking you as citizens/residents of an EU country to send the model letter (enclosed below) to the Governor and Deputy Governors of the CBI demanding that they end their role in funding Israel’s genocide.

If this campaign is successful, it will send a powerful message that citizens will not tolerate our governments’ and institutions’ complicity in genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and further increase pressure on them to take concrete steps to end it.

Take action now 

Model Letter to copy and paste (with some of your own wording preferences if possible), and email:

To: Governor of the Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, at gabriel.makhlouf@centralbank.ie

cc: Deputy Governors at vasileios.madouros@centralbank.ie and derville.rowland@centralbank.ie

Subject: Irish Central Bank’s role in enabling the sale of Israel bonds in the EU

Dear Governor,

As a citizen/resident of an EU country, I am writing to express my deep concern that the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) continues to enable Israel bonds to be sold in the EU.

The CEO of Israel Bonds, who is a member of the international board of directors, made plain in a television broadcast on 16 October 2023 that one of the purposes of Israeli government bonds being purchased by people around the world is to support the “war campaign”.

This is the same “war campaign” of which: the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruled in January 2024 that the claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is plausible;  reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and a UN Special Committee since the ICJ ruling in January 2024 have all confirmed that genocidal acts have been undertaken by Israel; and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has concluded that crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed, resulting in arrest warrants being issued against the Israeli Prime Minister and former Defence Minister.

States, organisations and individuals have obligations not to provide aid or assistance to “war campaigns” where there is evidence of a plausible risk that genocide is being committed, or crimes against humanity or war crimes are being committed.

It is my understanding that the prospectus documentation that the ICB continues to approve withholds important information. It does not clearly state that the State of Israel, the issuer, is raising money, at least in part, to support a “war campaign” and the risks associated with this specific “war campaign”.

Without this information, investors may not realise that by buying Israeli bonds they are at risk of aiding Israel financially to undertake a “war campaign” which the ICJ considers is plausibly genocidal and in which the ICC deems Israel to have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes.

I therefore respectfully demand that you ensure that all measures at the CBI’s disposal are taken, as a matter of urgency, to end this situation and end the CBI’s role in enabling the sale of Israel bonds within the EU.

Yours sincerely,

Name:

EU country of residence/citizenship:

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