Taoiseach and Biden agree on a ceasefire
...but US president ‘clear’ he will keep supporting Israel
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has strongly criticised the provision of American weapons to Israel, used in its bombardment of Gaza, following a meeting with US president Joe Biden at the White House.
The Fine Gael leader said Mr Biden had made it clear that the US will continue to support Israel, despite appearing to agree to Mr Varadkar’s call for a ceasefire.
Speaking to reporters following their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office yesterday, Mr Varadkar said no one likes to ‘see American weapons being used the way they are’ and said they were not being used in ‘self-defence’.
Mr Varadkar said: ‘It was the president that raised the issue of US military support for Israel. The US is very clear that it will continue to support Israel. What I think, as I said earlier, none of us like to see the weapons being used the way they are now. There’s a difference between self-defence and what’s happening now. That’s why we need to move towards a ceasefire.
He repeated: ‘The president was very clear that the US would continue to support Israel, to assist Israel to defend itself. So I don’t think that’s going to change. The way they [American weapons] are being used at the moment is not self-defence.’
Mr Varadkar insisted he had reiterated Ireland’s call for an ‘immediate ceasefire’ in the region, despite not making such remarks during his sit-down chat with President Biden while the American and Irish media were present.
He said: ‘We stated Ireland’s call for an immediate ceasefire to allow food and medicine to get into Gaza, the killing to stop and the hostages to get out.’
The Taoiseach praised US vice president Kamala Harris earlier in the day for her use of the term ‘immediate ceasefire’.
However, speaking during the annual St Patrick’s Day visit in the Oval Office, Mr Varadkar said: ‘You know my view is that we need to have a ceasefire as soon as possible to get food and medicine in.’
When the Taoiseach said this, Mr Biden briefly interrupted him to point out, ‘I agree’.
Mr Varadkar continued: ‘We need to talk about how we can make that happen and move towards a two-state solution, which is the only way we will have lasting peace and security.’
Mr Biden then chimed in again with the statement, ‘I agree’.
In response to queries from the Irish Daily Mail, the Taoiseach insisted people should not read too much into the change in language in the Oval Office. He said: ‘I wouldn’t read too much into that. When I say ceasefire, I mean yesterday – a ceasefire is well overdue. The level of suffering, the number of lives [that] have been lost, it’s just too much. But a ceasefire has to be on both sides. It has to be Hamas as well as Israel.’
Commenting on the Middle East conflict, Mr Biden said: ‘We both know there’s a lot more that has to be done’.
The return of powersharing institutions in the North and economic ties between the US and Ireland were also up for discussion between the leaders.
The US president thanked Ireland for its ‘unwavering’ assistance to Ukraine in the face of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s ‘onslaught’ and ‘the savagery with which he’s attacking Ukrainians’.
Mr Biden was also asked whether he would return to Ireland, where he has family roots, to which he replied: ‘I always want to come back to Ireland.’
Since Mr Varadkar began his US trip on Monday, he has spoken several times about how he will use the special platform of the St Patrick’s Day visit to press Mr Biden to back a ceasefire in Gaza, while also thanking the US for supporting Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia.
Mr Varadkar said the highlight of his trip so far was seeing Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly jointly addressing the Ireland Funds gala in Boston.
Just weeks after the restoration of Stormont, the party leaders are taking part in a series of St Patrick’s Day engagements in the city, as part of a mission to promote Northern Ireland’s economy and build relationships and networks across the US.
President Biden said he was ‘glad to see’ that the Northern Ireland Executive and the Assembly are finally back up and running, adding: ‘That’s, from my perspective, a very positive step forward.’
‘Weapons are not being used in self-defence’