The Irish Central Bank transfers an Israeli bond issue to the Grand Duchy, which raised 2.41 billion in 2024 and finances the Zionist State Budget.
Legal experts at Law for Palestine warn that accepting this debt prospectus makes Luxembourg "complicit" in illicit international acts.
Israel relies on the EU's two main financial centers, Ireland and Luxembourg, to finance the war in Gaza and, therefore, the crimes against the Palestinian population that have earned it international condemnation. To do so, it uses so-called diaspora bonds , which Israel has been issuing since 1951 and whose volume increases each time it needs to fund its war campaigns, appealing to Jewish communities around the world for contributions. These are small-value bonds , priced at less than €1,000, but they are very successful: they raised €2.41 billion in 2024, according to the annual report of the Public Debt Unit of the Israeli Ministry of Finance.
To sell these bonds in the European Union, Israel needs a member state to become the country of origin of the issue . Until Brexit , this was the United Kingdom . Since 2021, that role has been played by Ireland . Until Israel asked the Irish Central Bank to transfer the authority to approve the prospectus for its bonds to Luxembourg . On September 1, the Grand Duchy's Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF) authorized this. The numerous protests outside the headquarters of the Central Bank of Ireland for serving as a financial tool for Israel then moved to Luxembourg, both in the streets and in Parliament. Opposition parties accuse the financial supervisor and the government of "supporting, as a financial center," a policy that the country was at the same time "verbally condemning." Luxembourg recognized the State of Palestine on September 22 .
Following the criticism, the CSSF sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting its opinion on Israeli bonds. It also asked the Ministry to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of any changes in the official policy stance toward Israel, as, in such cases, it could review its decision. When the controversy erupted, the financial supervisor argued its independence : "The CSSF assumes no commitment regarding the economic or financial opportunity of the transaction or the quality and solvency of the issuer." The Luxembourg government did the same: it could not intervene in a supervisory body's decision. The CSSF can only reject a bond issue prospectus if it does not meet formal requirements, if the EU has sanctioned the issuer, or if restrictive national measures have been applied to it. "It is limited to determining whether the information contained in the prospectus is complete, consistent, and understandable ," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled in the statement announcing the CSSF's letter.
Not sold in Spain
However, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister, Xavier Bettel, acknowledged that the approval of the bonds could "indirectly" contribute to financing Israel's war in the Gaza Strip. However, a motion by the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) urging the government to classify Israel's actions in Gaza as war crimes and crimes against humanity, so that the CSSF could revoke the approval of the bond prospectus, was rejected in Parliament by 40 votes out of 60.
In response to the uproar, Israel's Finance Ministry simply explained that Ireland's transfer to Luxembourg was a "natural step" since it was already collaborating with the Grand Duchy on its tradable sovereign debt program. "This measure will ensure that Israel maintains continued access to investors around the world," according to a statement published by Reuters. Diaspora bonds issued in euros are sold in Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Neither in Ireland nor in Spain . In any case, the transfer to the Grand Duchy is only temporary. Ireland has delegated the approval of the prospectus for these bonds to Luxembourg for one year, until September 2026. At that time, unless Israel requests otherwise, the issuance will return to Ireland. If it wishes to issue bonds for a value greater than the current €1,000, it may choose another Member State to place its prospectus.
Ireland recognized the State of Palestine in May 2024 , and did so in coordination with Norway and Spain . The controversy over financial support for Israel forced the Central Bank of Ireland to explain why it had transferred jurisdiction over the prospectus to Luxembourg. According to its governor, Gabriel Makhlouf, the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice , which in July 2024 determined that the occupation of the Palestinian territories "is not a law ," and therefore does not "bind" the Central Bank. "There was no reasonable and proportionate argument that justified us rejecting the transfer," he explained before the Finance Committee of the Irish Parliament last Wednesday.
Luxembourg signed the Genocide Convention
The academics who prepared a legal opinion on the acceptance of Israeli bonds in the EU for Law for Palestine , a human rights nonprofit registered in the UK and Sweden and accredited by the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, disagree. Approving the prospectus, knowing that it will allow Israel access to European capital markets to fund its budget, would not only "trigger Luxembourg's international liability" but also make it "complicit" in "international wrongful acts ." They argue that the bond issuance constitutes "prohibited aid or assistance" under international law . Luxembourg is a signatory to the Genocide Convention —it also endorsed the International Court of Justice's July 2024 advisory opinion —and therefore has a duty to "employ all reasonable means at its disposal to prevent it." And denying the bond issue would be a "clear, available, and powerful means of economic pressure ," they conclude.
They also emphasize that "no other State interest," not even compliance with domestic legislation or other international commitments, can justify acts that contribute to or assist the commission of serious international crimes.
In their view, Luxembourg will incur a "manifest lack of due diligence" if the activities financed with these bonds include actions that could be considered genocide. Furthermore, the CSSF may have even breached its obligation to protect the companies and individuals who purchase them from "potential future liability as facilitators of Israeli violations of international law ," the legal experts at Law for Palestine conclude.
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Israel relies on the EU's two main financial centers, Ireland and Luxembourg, to finance the war in Gaza
https://www.publico.es/politica/israel-apoya-dos-principales-centros-financieros-ue-irlanda-luxemburgo-financiar-guerra-gaza.amp.htmlThe Irish Central Bank transfers an Israeli bond issue to the Grand Duchy, which raised 2.41 billion in 2024 and finances the Zionist State Budget.
Legal experts at Law for Palestine warn that accepting this debt prospectus makes Luxembourg "complicit" in illicit international acts.
Israel relies on the EU's two main financial centers, Ireland and Luxembourg, to finance the war in Gaza and, therefore, the crimes against the Palestinian population that have earned it international condemnation. To do so, it uses so-called diaspora bonds , which Israel has been issuing since 1951 and whose volume increases each time it needs to fund its war campaigns, appealing to Jewish communities around the world for contributions. These are small-value bonds , priced at less than €1,000, but they are very successful: they raised €2.41 billion in 2024, according to the annual report of the Public Debt Unit of the Israeli Ministry of Finance.
To sell these bonds in the European Union, Israel needs a member state to become the country of origin of the issue . Until Brexit , this was the United Kingdom . Since 2021, that role has been played by Ireland . Until Israel asked the Irish Central Bank to transfer the authority to approve the prospectus for its bonds to Luxembourg . On September 1, the Grand Duchy's Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF) authorized this. The numerous protests outside the headquarters of the Central Bank of Ireland for serving as a financial tool for Israel then moved to Luxembourg, both in the streets and in Parliament. Opposition parties accuse the financial supervisor and the government of "supporting, as a financial center," a policy that the country was at the same time "verbally condemning." Luxembourg recognized the State of Palestine on September 22 .
Following the criticism, the CSSF sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting its opinion on Israeli bonds. It also asked the Ministry to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of any changes in the official policy stance toward Israel, as, in such cases, it could review its decision. When the controversy erupted, the financial supervisor argued its independence : "The CSSF assumes no commitment regarding the economic or financial opportunity of the transaction or the quality and solvency of the issuer." The Luxembourg government did the same: it could not intervene in a supervisory body's decision. The CSSF can only reject a bond issue prospectus if it does not meet formal requirements, if the EU has sanctioned the issuer, or if restrictive national measures have been applied to it. "It is limited to determining whether the information contained in the prospectus is complete, consistent, and understandable ," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled in the statement announcing the CSSF's letter.
Not sold in Spain
However, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister, Xavier Bettel, acknowledged that the approval of the bonds could "indirectly" contribute to financing Israel's war in the Gaza Strip. However, a motion by the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) urging the government to classify Israel's actions in Gaza as war crimes and crimes against humanity, so that the CSSF could revoke the approval of the bond prospectus, was rejected in Parliament by 40 votes out of 60.
In response to the uproar, Israel's Finance Ministry simply explained that Ireland's transfer to Luxembourg was a "natural step" since it was already collaborating with the Grand Duchy on its tradable sovereign debt program. "This measure will ensure that Israel maintains continued access to investors around the world," according to a statement published by Reuters. Diaspora bonds issued in euros are sold in Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Neither in Ireland nor in Spain . In any case, the transfer to the Grand Duchy is only temporary. Ireland has delegated the approval of the prospectus for these bonds to Luxembourg for one year, until September 2026. At that time, unless Israel requests otherwise, the issuance will return to Ireland. If it wishes to issue bonds for a value greater than the current €1,000, it may choose another Member State to place its prospectus.
Ireland recognized the State of Palestine in May 2024 , and did so in coordination with Norway and Spain . The controversy over financial support for Israel forced the Central Bank of Ireland to explain why it had transferred jurisdiction over the prospectus to Luxembourg. According to its governor, Gabriel Makhlouf, the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice , which in July 2024 determined that the occupation of the Palestinian territories "is not a law ," and therefore does not "bind" the Central Bank. "There was no reasonable and proportionate argument that justified us rejecting the transfer," he explained before the Finance Committee of the Irish Parliament last Wednesday.
Luxembourg signed the Genocide Convention
The academics who prepared a legal opinion on the acceptance of Israeli bonds in the EU for Law for Palestine , a human rights nonprofit registered in the UK and Sweden and accredited by the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, disagree. Approving the prospectus, knowing that it will allow Israel access to European capital markets to fund its budget, would not only "trigger Luxembourg's international liability" but also make it "complicit" in "international wrongful acts ." They argue that the bond issuance constitutes "prohibited aid or assistance" under international law . Luxembourg is a signatory to the Genocide Convention —it also endorsed the International Court of Justice's July 2024 advisory opinion —and therefore has a duty to "employ all reasonable means at its disposal to prevent it." And denying the bond issue would be a "clear, available, and powerful means of economic pressure ," they conclude.
They also emphasize that "no other State interest," not even compliance with domestic legislation or other international commitments, can justify acts that contribute to or assist the commission of serious international crimes.
In their view, Luxembourg will incur a "manifest lack of due diligence" if the activities financed with these bonds include actions that could be considered genocide. Furthermore, the CSSF may have even breached its obligation to protect the companies and individuals who purchase them from "potential future liability as facilitators of Israeli violations of international law ," the legal experts at Law for Palestine conclude.