Environment Secretary George Eustice has said it is “deeply regrettable” that an Israeli delegate was unable to attend COP26 because it was not accessible for wheelchairs.
Israeli officials complained to organisers of the UN climate summit after the delegation’s Energy Minister Karine Elharrar, who is in a wheelchair, was unable to access the site on Monday .
Mr Eustice said: “We deeply regret that incident.
“What would normally happen in this situation is that Israel would have communicated that they had that particular need for their minister,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“There was obviously something that went wrong in this instance and they were not aware of that and so they hadn’t made the right provisions at the particular entrance that she was coming to.
“It’s deeply regrettable, we have apologised and I know that James Cleverly, my colleague, is going to be meeting her later.”
Ms Elharrar, who has muscular dystrophy, tweeted to say that it was “sad” the UN “does not provide accessibility to its events”.
She also told Israeli media that she could not gain access to COP26 because her only option was to walk or get a shuttle bus that was not suitable for a wheelchair.
She told a separate newspaper that she waited outside the SEC venue in Glasgow for two hours before returning to her hotel.
Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he would not attend on Tuesday if Ms Elharrar could not gain access to the summit.
British Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan apologised and said the UK wanted a COP26 “that was welcoming and inclusive to everyone”.
Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly said he was “deeply disappointed and frustrated” Ms Elharrar could not access the summit and he will be meeting her on Tuesday.
