By David McCullagh and Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
A row broke out in government in 1992 over the continued purchase of Israeli ammunition for the Defence Forces, with foreign affairs minister David Andrews saying it was "an error of judgement".
But his concerns were overruled on grounds of cost by defence minister John Wilson, backed by finance minister Bertie Ahern.
Documents from 1992 released to the National Archives this week show that the Defence Forces had been buying military supplies from Israel for at least a decade, making up around 7% of total ammunition and weapons purchases.
Among the Israeli products bought by Ireland were ammunition, rifle grenades, mortars, rifles and helmets.
Officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs were worried about the political sensitivity of Israeli supplies being used by Irish peacekeepers in the Middle East.
One asked: "What would be the reaction if a Lebanese were shot by an Irish soldier with an Israeli bullet?"
He added that Irish people would be unhappy about "military equipment being purchased from a country which is responsible for the deaths of Irish soldiers".
Minister for foreign affairs David Andrews agreed.
In a handwritten note he described the purchases as an error of judgement and dismissed suggestions that it might be possible to avoid supplying Israeli ammunition to troops on peacekeeping operations.
In a pointedly sarcastic comment, he added: "The bullets used by the Israelis to kill Irish troops presumably come from different manufacturers and are of a different make than those intended to be supplied to our highly regarded army."
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Foreign Affairs officials told the Department of Defence that Andrews had "strong reservations" about buying ammunition from Israel, which he regarded as politically inappropriate.
"The minister has particularly in mind Israel's record ... in south Lebanon, resulting in fatalities and injuries to and repeated intimidation of Defence Forces personnel serving with the United Nations force there."
However, the Department of Defence rejected his concerns.
From the political point of view, they argued, a refusal to buy Israeli ammunition could be seen in Tel Aviv as showing a lack of impartiality.
More important, perhaps, was the question of value for money: the Israeli ammunition would cost £570,000, while the next lowest tender was for £647,000.
Both John Wilson, the tánaiste and minister for defence, and Bertie Ahern, the minister for finance, supported buying from Israel on grounds of cost.
While Andrews repeated his concerns, he had to reluctantly accept the decision.
[Based on documents in 2024/52/123]
