Intel has a plant in Leixlip, and another in Israel. It's a major employer and taxpayer in Ireland, where its executives meet pretty regularly with senior government figures.
Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has imposed package after package of sanctions on the country.
Among these were restrictions on exports from EU countries to Russia of certain electronics. Top of the list? "Electronic integrated circuits" with the HS code 8542.31.
These were among the "dual use" – meaning they could be used for either civilian or military purposes – and "advanced technology items used in Russian military systems found on the battlefield in Ukraine or critical to the development, production or use of those Russian military systems".
Exports from Ireland to Russia of goods identified in international trade by this code quickly dropped off to zero, suggests the United Nations' Comtrade database.
Meanwhile, on 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing more than a thousand people, most of them civilians.
In retaliation, Israel has bombarded, invaded, and blockaded Gaza, killing more than 70,000 people there, most of them civilians.
But the EU has not imposed trade sanctions on Israel. "No matter what war crime the State of Israel commits, EU institutions proceed with business as usual with it," said Patricia Stephenson TD, the Social Democrats spokesperson on foreign affairs.
And exports of these very same advanced technology items, with the same code – which cannot be sent to Russia for fear of aiding its war on Ukraine – continue at pace from Ireland to Israel.
In fact, the value of exports of these chips from Ireland to Israel has risen bumpily from about $520 million in 2021 to about $1 billion in 2025, according to Comtrade data.
That's the year the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry found that, "Israeli authorities deliberately inflicted conditions of life on the Palestinians in Gaza calculated to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in Gaza, which is an underlying act of genocide".
Why does the Irish government continue to allow exports of these chips to Israel?
Neither the Department of Trade and Enterprise, nor the Department of Foreign Affairs have responded to queries about this sent Friday and Monday.
In the Dáil recently, though, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, pointed to Intel's economic importance to Ireland, the thousands of people it employs here, and the danger of angering its patron the United States. "We have to take everything on board and be sensible about it," he said.
But Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD, Sinn Féin's spokesperson on foreign affairs and trade, said on Tuesday that "civilians are still being killed and the expansion of illegal settlements continues".
And, "In such a context, Ireland should not be exporting goods which can be used for weapons of war to Israel," Ó Laoghaire said.
Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems advertises an "advanced tactical computer", "designed for use by infantry, Special Forces and command personnel", which it says uses an "Intel i7 Quad Core processor", illustrating the dual-use nature of Intel products – although it's unknown where the specific chips it uses were made.
Intel has a plant in Leixlip, and says it employs 4,900 people in Ireland.
The company has "invested over 30 billion euros in the Leixlip campus, creating a ‘Silicon Isle’ where we make leading-edge processors that power our digital world", its website says.
A major employer and taxpayer, Intel's senior executives meet pretty regularly with senior government figures in Ireland, according to lobbying records.
Tanaiste Simon Harris visited Intel's HQ in California recently and met with CEO Lip-Bu Tan. When Minister of State Thomas Byrne visited Intel's plant in Leixlip, on the agenda was "Intel's potential host a major event during the Presidency of the EU Council".
Intel also has a large presence in Israel – styling itself "the largest private employer in Israel's hi-tech sector" – with more than 11,000 employees and a manufacturing plant in Kiryat Gat, a city about 60km south of Tel Aviv.
The relationship between these two plants was flagged by Irish academics Patrick Bresnihan (Maynooth University) and Patrick Brodie (UCD) in the Examiner last year.
So, were last year's exports from Ireland to Israel of $1 billion worth of goods with the HS Code 854231 shipments from Intel's plant in Leixlip to its plant in Kiryat Gat?
"With a global manufacturing footprint, Intel routinely conducts intra-company shipments between our wafer fabrication facilities, assembly and test, and advanced packaging sites," a company spokesperson said on 5 June.
"These shipments are a standard part of our supply chain operations, representing the next step in our end-to-end semiconductor manufacturing process," she said.
Ian Cutress, chief analyst at More than Moore, which covers the semiconductor industry, including Intel, says "A good amount of intra-company transfer goes on between the two facilities."
"On top of this, both sides have sizable R&D facilities, sharing knowledge, people, and equipment for test runs – Israel moreso than Ireland but still both significant," Cutress said.
"So hardware, people, tools, spares, manufactured goods, can go either way," he said. "Not only that, but optimized testing tools, testing methodology, and assets to ensure scalability and production milestones."
Intel has a code of conduct, which, among other things, says it is "committed to respecting and promoting human rights in our operations, supply chain, and business relationships, and do not support or tolerate Intel products being used to violate human rights".
But Nick Collins, a former Intel employee, says it is not living up to that code of conduct when it comes to Israel.
Last year, Collins brought a proposal to the company's annual meeting that shareholders ask the board to do a report – a "comprehensive ethical impact assessment" – on the company's involvement with Israel.
This should specifically address, among other things, "The moral and legal implications of Intel maintaining corporate operations in a context of present alleged systemic human rights violants and alleged genocide."
And "The extent to which Intel corporate presence potentially provides economic legitimacy to actions condemned by most international and some Israeli human rights organisations."
The board opposed Collins' initiative, arguing that reducing its presence in, or leaving, Israel, would cause "significant harm to the company and its stockholders".
So doing the requested report wouldn't help the board or stockholders "in decision making in this regard", its brief on its reasons for oppositions said.
"The company's existing programs on human rights, enterprise risk management and compliance and regular engagement with stockholders remain the appropriate approaches for the board's consideration and actions", it said.
When it came time to vote last year, Collins' proposal failed in a landslide. He came back again, this year, with a similar proposal at the company's May shareholders' meeting – which again failed in a landslide.
By email on Monday, Collins said to just have a read of Intel's Code of Conduct. "Anyone reading that would come away thinking there is no way that a company that believes in that can turn a blind eye to apartheid/genocide. But yet, here we are," he said.
"Ireland and all countries need to stop enabling this version of Israel in any way, since that only enables them to continue their expansionism, abuses and war crimes," he said.
Indeed, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has pointed to Intel's decision to not only maintain its presence in Israel, but invest $25 billion in expanding it.
A 2023 statement from the Israeli government about the investment called it "the largest investment so far by a company in the State of Israel".
The statement said Intel's investment in Israel "will yield significant macroeconomic benefits for the economy" and "the investment has direct fiscal benefits for the state".
Or, as a BDS statement put it, Intel has been "aiding and abetting Israel’s apartheid for decades, feeding its war chest, and now it is directly feeding its war chest while it continues its unspeakable genocide".
The Intel spokesperson this month did not respond to a query asking for comment on the BDS call to boycott Intel.
Cutress, the analyst at More than Moore, says that "Intel won't pull out of Israel any time soon".
"It's a strong hub for semiconductor talent and research, in part because of when Intel built its business there decades ago and built the ecosystem around it," Cutress said.
"Realistically, it's difficult to buy an Intel product today (consumer or enterprise) that hasn't either (a) been designed in Israel, or (b) manufactured in Israel, or (c) contains in part designs from engineers at Intel Israel. It's a core part of the company," he said.
If Ireland blocked Intel from exporting to Israel, "then Intel Israel would otherwise source its needs from Intel USA, Intel Malaysia, or other parts of the supply chain".
Still, Ireland should be blocking the export of potentially dangerous goods to Israel, said Ó Laoghaire, the Sinn Féin TD on Tuesday.
"We saw recently revelations of the Department of Entreprise giving licences for trade of some 20m€ [in dual-use exports] to the IDF – utterly unacceptable," Ó Laoghaire said, referring to a report in The Currency.
"Similarly, we need to ensure products produced in Ireland do not contribute in any way to the slaughter and erasure of the Palestinian people," he said.
"While pushing the EU is an important element of this, clearly we need action at an Irish level given the EUs reluctance to act," Ó Laoghaire said.
There are no sanctions preventing EU countries from exporting "electronic integrated circuits" (HS 8542.31) to Israel, because EU member states have not put them in place.
"The EU responses to the war in Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza have been widely divergent," said Stephenson, the Social Democrats TD on Tuesday. "No sanctions have been taken against Israel by the EU – financial or otherwise."
"Breaches of international law are not contingent on the identity of the aggressor," she said. "They should be prosecuted and sanctioned equally."
In the Dáil recently, People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett asked Taoiseach Micheál Martin, of Fianna Fáíl, "Will the Government stop the hypocrisy and actually bring forward a Bill that imposes serious sanctions on Israel for its criminal violation of international law, for genocide and for apartheid?"
Amidst the back-and-forth between the two that followed, Martin asked, "Does he [Boyd Barrett] want Intel to stop dealing with its sister company in Israel?"
"Yes," Boyd Barrett replied.
"Fine. Talk to the thousands of workers in Ireland working with Intel. What happens there?" Martin asked.
"Has Deputy Boyd Barrett worked through the implications of it? Has anyone in the Opposition done an assessment of what it would mean economically?" Martin asked.
What about what the US might do to Ireland, if Ireland moves against Israel? he asked.
Ireland has been a leader in Europe on Palestine, Martin said. But "We have to protect our national interests and people at the same time", he said.
It depends on how its used, say academics who study policing – on what kinds of interventions and stories are pushed.
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