In a warning cable to Jerusalem on Tuesday, Israel’s Ambassador to Ireland Ze’ev Boker reportedly informed Jerusalem of Dublin’s intentions to possibly recognize Palestine as a state soon.

An Israeli official was quoted in a Haaretz report Thursday as saying an announcement from Dublin on Palestine recognition had already been possible, but Israel’s passing of a controversial law legalizing wildcat settlements made such a decision far more likely.

The reported message comes just days after the Knesset passed the Regulation Law, which retroactively legalizes several thousand homes in West Bank settlements built illegally on privately owned Palestinian property.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

The legislation has received broad condemnation from governments across the globe in addition to the European Union, of which Ireland is a member.

The Israeli official reportedly said Boker’s cable recommended a request for assistance from the Trump administration in Washington, as well as having Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu call his Irish counterpart, Enda Kenny, in order to discourage Dublin from recognizing Palestinian statehood.

In separate 2014 motions, the Upper and Lower Houses of Ireland’s parliament urged their government to recognize the state of Palestine.

The EU’s envoy to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, refused to rule out on Wednesday punitive measures that could be taken by the organization against Jerusalem in response to the passage of the law in addition to the building announcement of 6,000 new homes across the West Bank.

Anderson chastised Israel’s unwillingness to do “more than pay lip service” to the two-state solution.

Ireland was the first European country to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization and has traditionally been one of Israel’s harshest critics in the EU.

While Irish ministers were subsequently quoted as considering the matter, no movement has been made on the issue over the past two years.