A SCOTTISH Government minister has defended Angus Robertson’s meeting with a senior Israeli diplomat – although said more “clarity” could be provided over what was discussed.
The Scottish External Affairs Secretary is facing growing criticism from within his own party following a meeting with Israeli deputy ambassador to the UK Daniela Grudsky Ekstein.
We told on Sunday how an SNP branch is pushing for Robertson to be suspended from Cabinet after the meeting – which was only made public four days after taking place.
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Speaking to The Herald, SNP MSP Ruth Maguire said the Cabinet secretary had allowed himself to “appear to legitimise a genocidal, apartheid regime who continue to commit war crimes”.
Another MSP told the newspaper it was an “avoidable misstep that has cost us our principled position on Palestine and a not insignificant amount of members”.
Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Minister for Public Finance Ivan McKee was asked about the meeting and if Robertson should face any “penalty”.
He replied: “Well there are many things that we can talk to the government of Israel about, the Netanyahu regime about.
“We can talk to them about that genocide charge at the International Court of Justice, we can talk about the arrest warrants issued for the deputy ambassador's bosses, Benjamin Netanyahu and others by the International Criminal Court.
“We can talk about the illegal settlements in the West Bank and Israel’s illegal…”
At this point, host Gary Robertson interrupted to ask if any of these things had been discussed at the meeting.
McKee continued to say other topics which could be discussed with the Israeli government, including the torture of Palestinians and human rights abuses and the Scottish Government’s call for a ceasefire.
It comes after John Mason had the whip withdrawn with “immediate effect” over the weekend following a series of posts on Twitter/X which appeared to deny a genocide was taking place in Gaza.
On Friday night, Mason (above) said: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.”
He told the BBC he “completely stands by the tweet” and that he would like to see Scotland and the UK “acting more as a peacemaker”.
Mason added he had not foreseen losing the whip over the posts and defended Robertson’s decision to meet the ambassador.
McKee reiterated that he was not at the meeting and that he did not know the “full extent” of what was discussed.
Asked what he made of the anger from members of the meeting taking place at all, the minister replied: “Many, many people in the party are very angry about the current situation.
“I think we need to be clear between the meeting taking place and perhaps what was said at the meeting.
“I think having the meeting itself, as the First Minister has made clear, in order to hold the Israeli government to account and make clear our longstanding and continuing opposition to their behaviour and, as I said, the issues round about potential genocide, about arrest warrants for the leadership of the Israeli government leadership and so on.
“Having a meeting to do that I think absolutely makes sense and the First Minister has been very consistent on that and I support him in that.
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“People are taking a view on what was discussed at that meeting. Angus Robertson is a very experienced politician and I’m sure he’ll be reflecting on what was and wasn’t discussed at that meeting.”
Asked if more clarity should be provided on what was and wasn’t discussed, McKee said: “I think there is absolutely no harm in us providing more clarity on what was discussed at that meeting but also reinstating our position again as the First Minister has done on a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and recognition of the state of Palestine and on those other issues that I’ve mentioned.”
It was also reported in the Sunday Mail that John Swinney (below) asked Robertson to attend the highly-criticised meeting.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “The deputy ambassador originally requested meetings with several ministers, including the First Minister.
“It is not customary protocol for a First Minister to engage with diplomats at the level of deputy ambassador.
“The Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs represents all portfolios externally and sees diplomats as a core function of his role. As such, he undertook this meeting.”
The Scottish Greens have also table a parliamentary motion urging Robertson to say sorry for meeting the ambassador.
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