The action was taken in response to criticism directed at the SNP government regarding a meeting that took place earlier this month between Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky, and External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson.
Mr. Robertson apologized in a statement released on Monday for saying that the discussion was not “strictly limited” to discussing a truce between Israel and Hamas.
According to him, Israel requested the meeting with the new ambassador, which allowed the Scottish government to reiterate its “clear and unwavering position on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza”.
“And I fulfilled that exact task,” Mr. Robertson said.
Nobody wanted this gathering to be seen as endorsing the Israeli government’s policies in Gaza.
According to Mr. Robinson, the Scottish government has been “unwavering in our denunciation of the crimes we have seen in Gaza.”
“The reality, however, is that this meeting has been taken by many to represent a normalisation of relations between the Israeli and Scottish governments,” he stated.
The discussion should have been “strictly limited to the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the appalling loss of life in the region,” according to the Edinburgh Central MSP, who also expressed regret that it was not.
