The latest bond prospectus issued by Israel has been approved by Luxembourg and not the Central Bank in Ireland.
A document published by the State of Israel bond issuance programme says it has now been approved for fundraising in the EU by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
It is understood today's development follows a move by Israel to switch to Luxembourg as the competent authority in the EU for authorising bond prospectuses.
The development follows significant political pressure on the Central Bank from the Opposition and campaigners on the Central Bank to refuse to authorise prospectuses issued by Israel.
Central Bank Governor Gabriel Makhlouf confirmed the development in a letter to chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Finance Mairéad Farrell today.
The last authorisation of prospectuses by the Central Bank in Ireland expired today.
The bank has said it was legally obliged to approve the documentation if it met requirements.
Israel issues prospectuses to potential investors in sovereign bonds, which it sells as a mechanism to borrow money.
The documentation used to be approved by the UK for the EU as a whole but Israel then switched to Ireland after Brexit.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Central Bank should not have been involved in the first place.
"The Irish Central Bank, at any stage, should not have been engaged in facilitating the sale of Israeli war bonds, and there is a genocide at play.
"We are witnesses to that genocide. The Irish Government and state has obligations, active obligations, under the Genocide Convention."
She said Sinn Féin had previously brought legislation to the Dáil to stop the Central Bank from facilitating Israeli bonds and she welcomed the fact the practice is now ending.
"If they are bringing this to a conclusion, I welcome that, but I would remind them and the Government that they never, ever should have had any hand act or part in the facilitating of the financing of the genocide of the Palestinian people."
Meanwhile, the Labour Party claimed over the weekend that an arm of the State was "tacitly complicit" in Israel's fundraising through approving the bond prospectuses.
The Government had consistently backed the Central Bank's position that it is obliged to approve the documentation issued by Israel if it meets certain criteria.
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Earlier this year the Coalition rejected a private members' bill by Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty seeking to prevent the Central Bank authorising bond documentation.
However, Mr Doherty today's announcement was far from the end of the matter.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, the Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson highlighted that the Irish Government or Central Bank were not the ones to make the decision.
"Now we will be questioning the Governor did they allow this exit by Israel instead of actually doing what it should have done, which is sanction Israel, refuse to accept its prospectus, which would mean that no Israeli war bonds would be sold either in Ireland or Europe.
"Or did it sanction a transfer to another competent authority, i.e. another Central Bank and other member states," Mr Doherty said.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said the Government "would not be found wanting" and has been calling on Israel to comply with international law.
Last month the cross-party Oireachtas Committee on Finance called on the Central Bank to review whether in can turn down any requests from Israel to authorise prospectuses.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Finance said the Governor of the Central Bank informed the Minister this morning that the Central Bank's approval of the 2024 prospectus will expire today.
"The Central Bank performed a regulatory function which was limited to ensuring that the disclosure document for the offer contains all the necessary information required by the EU Prospectus Regulation," the Spokesperson said.
"There are now no active bond prospectuses approved by the Central Bank of Ireland for the State of Israel."
The spokesperson added that the CBI, as the financial regulator, is independent in its functions from the Government.
