is under mounting pressure to quit as the SNP’s external affairs secretary over a “secret” meeting with Israel’s deputy ambassador after party members moved to suspend him. The SNP’s Dalkeith branch lodged a motion of censure against Mr Robertson alleging he had brought the party into disrepute by holding talks with Daniela Grudsky, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK. SNP MPs, MSPs and members have expressed fury over the talks, arguing it undermines the and call for a separate Palestinian state.
Some have demanded that Mr Robertson be sacked. It emerged that Christine Grahame, one of the party’s longest-serving MSPs, has written to John Swinney urging him to take action against Mr Robertson, warning he is a “liability”. But The Telegraph reported last week that , arguing they were justified so Mr Robertson could “express the Scottish Government’s clear and unwavering position on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza”.
Shona Robison, Deputy First Minister, said on Sunday that Mr Swinney “thought the meeting was necessary” so Mr Robertson could raise the Scottish Government’s concerns about Israel’s actions. Although she said the Israeli request to meet Ms Grudsky was made to several SNP ministers, she said it was allocated to Mr Robertson as external affairs are part of his portfolio. But the interventions by the party leadership defending Mr Robertson appeared to have done little to assuage members’ fury about the Aug 8 meeting.
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