SNP minister Angus Robertson makes new admission over Israeli ambassador meeting

Senior SNP minister Angus Robertson says he was the one who decided the meeting with an Israeli diplomat should go ahead.

The external affairs secretary said First Minister John Swinney was “made aware” of the plans to meet with Israeli deputy ambassador Daniela Grudsky, but admitted they did not speak about it in person.

Mr Robertson said he was not considering his position as a Cabinet minister over the fallout.

This comes after Mr Robertson was forced to apologise after a public and party backlash to the meeting. The Scottish Government also took the decision to suspend any further meetings with the Israeli Government.

Mr Robertson told the BBC: “The meeting plan was made aware to the First Minister in the normal way government does business. I don’t think I spoke about it in person with him, but the Government’s internal deliberations, including the official recommendation to meet, he was made aware of.

“But it was me ultimately who decided the meeting should go ahead.”

Previously Mr Swinney had said: “I understand why some believe a face-to-face meeting was not appropriate. However, I thought it necessary to outline our long-standing position on an immediate ceasefire directly, and explicitly, to one of Israel’s representatives in the UK.”

He said he took the decision to accept Ms Grudsky’s invitation to meet as it was “the first opportunity” for the Scottish Government to put their opposition to the war in Gaza directly to the Israeli Government. He said the Israeli Government also wanted to use the meeting to raise concerns about anti-Semitism. 

However, after the meeting, Ms Grudksy posted a picture of the two of them online and said they had “discussed the unique commonalities between Israel and Scotland”, and that she was “looking forward to cooperating in the fields of technology, culture and renewable energy”.

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Mr Robertson has since said: “I don’t regret telling the Israelis to stop what they’re doing in Gaza, and that humanitarian supplies should be allowed in, there should be a ceasefire, and hostages should be released - that’s what happens in diplomacy.

“I apologised for the impression that the meeting was a normalisation of relations with Israel, which caused distress to people who care deeply about what happens in Gaza.

“A whole series of issues were raised by the Israelis that did not relate to the war in Gaza or anti-Semitism such as energy, tourism and economic co-operation. That meeting was not an appropriate space or time for discussions of that kind.”

On Tuesday morning, Israel’s military said it had recovered the bodies of six hostages. He also defended the decision to meet as “normal diplomatic relations” in line with other countries in the European Union.

Mr Robertson said: “Are the Israelis going to change course because the Scottish Government raises concerns? Of course not, but that doesn’t mean one can absolve oneself of sharing views on the key issues of the day.”

The external affairs secretary said he would continue to meet with representatives from Palestine, and that he had “ongoing dialogue” with the Palestinian delegation in the UK.