{"id":178138,"date":"2025-06-12T10:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T10:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/178138\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T10:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T10:20:10","slug":"central-banks-role-in-approving-israeli-bonds-can-be-traced-back-to-brexit-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/178138\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Bank\u2019s role in approving Israeli bonds can be traced back to Brexit \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is something else that can be blamed on Brexit. When Britain<\/a> decided to leave the EU in 2016 it no longer belonged to the European bond market. The market allows sovereign states to raise finance by issuing bonds that they pay back over time. <\/p>\n

The European Prospectus Regulation for bonds deemed that one European state would be the \u201chome state\u201d that would determine if a non-EU<\/a> state selling bonds had the financial wherewithal to trade the bonds in EU markets. The state would be chosen not by the EU but by the country selling the bonds. <\/p>\n

Until 2016 Britain was the country which decided if a bond prospectus offered by Israel<\/a> could be approved for sale in the EU. When Brexit happened, Israel decided that Ireland should fulfil that role. It wasn\u2019t the only one to do so in recent years. At an interesting meeting of the Oireachtas finance committee yesterday, Gerry Cross of the Central Bank<\/a> told Shay Brennan (Fianna F\u00e1il) that seven other countries had also done so in recent years: Georgia; Turkey; The Maldives; C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire; Armenia, Benin and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

To quote Macbeth: what\u2019s done is done and cannot be undone. Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf told the committee that only Israel can decide to use another state to be the home country unless the EU at political level does what it did with Russia and imposes sanctions against Israel. Given the ties between some EU states and Israel, that\u2019s very unlikely to happen. Mr Makhlouf, Mr Cross and deputy governor Mary-Elizabeth McMunn told the committee that the EU regulation was strict; they could only make the approval determination based on financial stability criteria and not on wider geopolitical considerations. Effectively their hands were tied. <\/p>\n

This issue was a dominant one in political discourse again this week, with a second D\u00e1il vote in as many sitting weeks over the bonds last night. This time the vote was on a Social Democrats motion and again it was defeated. As Marie O\u2019Halloran reports, two Independent TDs who support the Government<\/a> \u2013 Gillian Toole and Barry Heneghan \u2013 voted against the Coalition. <\/p>\n

The debate last night revolved around the same issues. Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe both took exception in the D\u00e1il and other forums to the accusation from the Opposition that the Government was somehow complicit in the genocide because the Central Bank approves the bonds. <\/p>\n

Martin completely rejected the assertion at the Fianna F\u00e1il parliamentary party meeting last night. He has argued that the Central Bank was independent in its role, and that its determination was a technical one based solely on financial criteria. <\/p>\n

Still, Ireland\u2019s unwanted status has made everybody uncomfortable. <\/p>\n

Meeting offers further details on bonds<\/p>\n

The three-hour meeting of the finance committee was interesting in that we learned that for all the trouble they have caused the returns from the bonds in Europe are relatively modest. <\/p>\n

Israel has raised between \u20ac100 and \u20ac130 million from the bonds, Mr Makhlouf said. He said the Israeli government website marketing its \u201cwar bonds\u201d had stated it had sold bonds worth \u20ac5 billion. He said the EU accounted for only a fraction of that, with the US accounting for the bulk of it. <\/p>\n

On what the bank can and can\u2019t do, he said: \u201cThe Central Bank cannot decide to impose sanctions for breaches or alleged breaches of international law. It is for international bodies such as the UN or the EU to determine how to respond to breaches or alleged breaches of international law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Cross, director for capital markets at the bank, confirmed that the Central Bank fees for the approval of Israeli bonds between October 2023 and May this year was \u20ac13,300. <\/p>\n

The EU prospectus is due for renewal in September. When asked by Ged Nash (Labour) if there were new issues to be considered, Mr Makhlouf said the \u201cintensity of the conflict in Gaza probably does put a question mark [on] whether the financial viability of the state still remains secure\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe European Union has indicated that it\u2019s going to look at its co-operation agreement with Israel, and I think that\u2019s a factor, the fact that the finance minister [Bezalel Smotrich] has just been sanctioned by a number of countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he said it should not be taken as granted that the prospectus would not be renewed. <\/p>\n

Asked by Mr Nash about how employees of the Central Bank have reacted to its role approving Israeli bonds, Mr Makhlouf said that the views in the bank were a reflection of the view across society. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey range [from] people who are very sympathetic to one side of the debate, but also people who are sympathetic to the other side of the debate,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Fallout of Arts Council ICT project continues<\/p>\n

The Oireachtas committee on media and arts returned for a second time in recent weeks to its examination of the implications of a partially abandoned ICT project that cost the Arts Council \u20ac7 million and also cost its director Maureen Kennelly her job \u2013 Minister for Arts Patrick O\u2019Donovan made the decision<\/a> that her contract was not to be renewed. <\/p>\n

The Arts Council has become the fall guy taking most of the blame for the failure. But yesterday the committee, chaired by Labour TD Alan Kelly, honed in on the action, or lack of action, by the then Department of Arts in the matter. <\/p>\n

Ms Kennelly told the committee that the council had written to the department some 60 times in relation to difficulties with the project. It was disclosed that the department never escalated the issue to senior management beyond principal officer level. <\/p>\n

Jack Horgan-Jones has the details of how the department\u2019s shortcomings <\/a>were discussed during the meeting. <\/p>\n

Pepper sprays Paul Gogarty with shouting<\/p>\n

Jack Horgan-Jones reports on a stand-off <\/a>between Independent TD Paul Gogarty and two anti-immigrant Dublin city councillors, Malachy Steenson and Gavin Pepper.<\/p>\n

Both shouted him down when he tried to speak. <\/p>\n

Mr Gogarty had been addressing a group of protesters objecting to the prospective State purchase of the Citywest Hotel, which is being used to accommodate people seeking international protection.<\/p>\n

He did not get very far in his contribution. He opened his remarks with a \u201cpreamble\u201d, saying that he did not condone any form of racism or abuse. \u201cI wasn\u2019t allowed to finish my preamble,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Best Reads<\/p>\n

Miriam Lord gives a peerless example of how an unmissable 900-word column can be constructed from a single line<\/a>. No smokers without fire, that should be her motto.<\/p>\n

Emmet Malone has a comprehensive Q&A piece<\/a> on how errors were made in calculating the pensions of certain politicians and civil servants. <\/p>\n

Sean\u00edn Graham reports that after weeks of speculation, a \u00a350 million (\u20ac59 million) investment was offered by the British government to redevelop the derelict Casement Park GAA stadium<\/a> in Belfast. It\u2019s good news but there is still a \u00a390 million shortfall<\/p>\n

of the estimated \u00a3260 million cost to transform the dilapidated site.<\/p>\n

Playbook<\/p>\n

D\u00e1il<\/b><\/p>\n

08.47: Parliamentary Questions: T\u00e1naiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris<\/p>\n

10.23: Parliamentary Questions: Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee<\/p>\n

12.00: Leaders\u2019 Questions<\/p>\n

12.34: Other Members\u2019 Questions<\/p>\n

12.42: Questions on Policy or Legislation<\/p>\n

13.52: Government Business: Statements on Fisheries<\/p>\n

16.17: Government Business: Statements on Nursing Homes and Care for Older Persons<\/p>\n

18.17: Topical Issues<\/p>\n

19.17: Private Members\u2019 Bill: Criminal Law (Prohibition of the Disclosure of Counselling Records) Bill, 2025<\/a> \u2013 Second Stage<\/p>\n

21.17: D\u00e1il adjourns<\/p>\n

Seanad<\/b><\/p>\n

09.30: Commencement Matters<\/p>\n

10.30: Order of Business<\/p>\n

13.00: Government Business: Statements on delivering a world class education system, which breaks down barriers and ensures every child can achieve their full potential<\/p>\n

14.30: Seanad adjourns<\/p>\n

Committees<\/b><\/p>\n

Defence and National Security<\/p>\n

09.30: Pre-legislative scrutiny of a general scheme: Defence Amendment Bill, 2025<\/p>\n

Fisheries and Maritime Affairs<\/p>\n

09.30: Extension of EU-UK trade agreement and the implications for the Irish fishing and seafood industry<\/p>\n

Children and Equality<\/p>\n

10.00: Insight into the priority topics and issues facing the department<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is something else that can be blamed on Brexit. When Britain decided to leave the EU in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,12810,73439,2000,299,5187,1699,73440,4884,9037,837,16,15],"class_list":["post-178138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brexit","tag-brexit","tag-britain","tag-central-bank","tag-dail-eireann","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-union","tag-gabriel-makhlouf","tag-great-britain","tag-inside-politics","tag-israel","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114669893943197524","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}