THE Scottish Greens have labelled a secret meeting between the Scottish Government and an Israeli ambassador “beyond shameful”.
It comes after an exclusive report by The Ferret for The National was published, where the secret minutes of a meeting between MSP Angus Robertson and ambassador Daniela Grudsky were revealed.
It has come to light that the Scottish Government had called Israel a "critical friend", despite publicly denouncing the atrocities it has carried out amid the genocide in Gaza.
The information was published after a 10-month Freedom of Information battle and Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has now called for further clarity.
He told The National: “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, yet the SNP still think it's acceptable to be ‘critical friends’ with a regime that’s blatantly committing war crimes against innocent civilians.
“This is beyond shameful.
“This meeting with the Israeli regime stands in stark contrast with the SNP’s stated opposition to the occupation of [[Gaza]] and the ongoing genocide.
“They rightly criticise the UK Government’s disgraceful complicity, but when it comes to taking action in Scotland, time and again they have failed to deliver.”
Among the details revealed in the Sunday National by The Ferret were that an unnamed Scottish Government official had said: “Transparency is obviously a good thing, but it takes up such a lot of our time.”
The Freedom of Information requests were prompted after Grudsky shared an image on Twitter/X of her and Robertson, which left a “schism” within the SNP.
“If the Scottish Government truly considers Israel’s vicious government as any kind of friend, then why did they spend 10 months trying to keep these minutes from the public?”, Harvie continued.
“We urgently need John Swinney and the Scottish Government to explain why their minister was cosying up to Netanyahu’s representative in a secret meeting.”
External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson said:
“Close to 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza – many more are now being left to starve at the hands of the Israeli Government.
“Civilians who queue to access what little humanitarian aid is permitted to enter Gaza are frequently shot at and killed by Israeli Defence Forces.
“The rhetoric of Israeli politicians has become increasingly extreme in recent months.
“Under such abhorrent circumstances, the Scottish Government is unequivocal that it would not be appropriate to meet with the Israeli Government.
“This will remain our position until real progress has been made towards peace and Israel cooperates fully with its international obligations on the investigation of genocide and war crimes.”
