Scottish Government Refuses to Publish Details of Israel Meeting
As the controversy surrounding the Scottish External Affairs secretary Angus Robertson’s meeting with the Israeli deputy ambassador continues to rumble on, the only damage being done is to Scotland.
Mr. Robertson was forced to apologize for the meeting on the 8th of August, which had been approved by the First Minister John Swinney, and in his apology claimed that he had accepted the meeting only as an opportunity to press the Israelis on the Scottish Governments position on the Gaza War, insisting; “The Scottish Government does not support any normalization of its relations with the Israeli Government during this period.” On the other hand, in a post on X the Deputy Ambassador Ms Daniela Grudsky said that they; “Discussed the unique commonalities between Israel and Scotland and also emphasized the urgent need to bring back our 115 hostages. Looking forward to cooperating in the fields of Technology, Culture and Renewable energy” Now, following a Freedom of information request, the Scottish Government has refused to release the minutes or agenda of the meeting, adding new fuel to claims the meeting was “secretive” and accusations like those from Amnesty International Scotland that there are issues of transparency around all the Scottish Governments international relations.
This entirely avoidable public relations disaster has absolutely no impact on Israeli policy, but simply adds to an already toxic and chaotic situation in Scotland, heightening community tensions and risking a potentially hugely beneficial relationship with an important ally of the UK. Ms Grudsky was absolutely right to highlight the many commonalities between Israel and Scotland, and this episode was a missed opportunity for the Scottish Government to choose integrity and leadership over dangerous populism.
We cannot know exactly what was on the agenda at this meeting, but we can speculate. Perhaps, for example, there was discussion about language. The Israelis after all, successfully revived the Jewish people’s indigenous language Hebrew, and given the millions invested by the Scottish government into the revival of Gaidhlig, it would seem logical for Scotland to want to benefit from that expertise. Or maybe they discussed healthcare. The Scottish Government is rightly proud of its free prescription policy, but without generic medications produced by Israeli companies such as Teva, the NHS medication bill could be as much as double what it is now, a crippling, and potentially killing, blow to a struggling health service. On the same theme, Israel’s world leading emergency services have previously been a point of interest to Scottish politicians, Labour Councillor Graeme Downie raised the ire of Pro Palestinian groups when he took a trip in 2023 which involved consultations with Israeli experts on how those services work so well and how that could inform development of better services here in Scotland. Ms Grudsky herself mentioned that renewable energy was discussed, which would make sense given Israel’s world leading developments in that field, and the potential for Scotland to do the same. Maybe they even discussed supporting Diaspora communities. Scotland has a large and loyal diaspora, one which brings huge amounts into the economy each year in tourism and deserves to be culturally supported and appreciated. Perhaps the Scottish Government wanted to discuss how Israel maintains its strong links to the Jewish diaspora, and how they support that community not just in Scotland but around the world.
This is all pure speculation, but the common ground is obvious and not in any way nefarious, which suggests that Scottish Greens co leader Patrick Harvie might have been inadvertently right when he said there was “no legitimate reason for refusing to publish the details”. The insistence on ascribing nefarious intent to the Israeli government is of course a classically antisemitic trope, the secretive puppet master Jew quietly controlling the world, and it’s entirely possible that those opposed to Israel’s very existence would actually prefer the meeting’s agenda stay secret, despite their loud demands to the contrary. The Scottish Government insist though, that releasing that information could prejudice international relations. A position which of course only adds to the accusations of nefarious intent and secret, conspiratorial goings on.
Coming as it does on the heels of the controversy over MSP John Mason being stripped of the whip for pointing out that if Israel was attempting a genocide in Gaza we would have seen much higher casualty numbers by now, this episode has simply entrenched an illogical and damaging position. The Scottish Government realises that a large percentage of its voter base is deeply attached to the ahistorical painting of the Palestinian cause on to Scottish nationalism. Rather than righting the ship by pointing out that Zionism freed the Jewish people from British rule, working on a mutually beneficial relationship with this tiny country whose successes they are desperate to emulate, and dealing with the rampant antisemitism on the streets of Scotland, the SNP is instead trying to pander to extremists and cling to the coat tails of the Palestinian dream as a way to stay relevant at a time when Independence feels dead in the water. All this does is jeopardise that relationship and put the tiny and extremely vulnerable Jewish community of Scotland in danger. The blood libel of genocide, and the language of refusing “normalization” with Israel, is political rhetoric with real world consequences for Scotland’s Jews, as we saw on Sunday with the utterly shameful desecration of a memorial service in Glasgow for those lost on October 7th. It is an uncomfortable truth that the SNP bending over backwards for the votes of antisemites is the root cause of an older lady being abused in the street for trying to grieve her murdered brother, posters going up declaring Edinburgh a “Zionist Free Zone” and other unspeakable acts of hate.
The reality is that the Scottish Government doesn’t carry enough weight on the world stage to make a difference to Israeli policy, but they do have the power to stop the descent into hateful mayhem that is taking place on Scotland’s streets, and perhaps publishing the details of this meeting, and choosing the difficult path of challenging extremism, with all the risk to their vote share that carries, would be a courageous act of integrity that might just go some way to repairing their image.