ANGUS Robertson repeatedly asked a BBC presenter to stop interrupting him as he was interviewed on his recent meeting with a senior Israeli diplomat.
It comes after the Scottish Government said it would not meet with Israel again until “real progress has been made towards peace”.
The Scottish External Affairs Secretary had faced criticism for meeting with Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK Daniela Grudsky and issued a statement on the issue on Monday afternoon.
Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Robertson was asked if he could not have “considered some of the risks” of the meeting before it was held.
He replied: “Well there were meetings ahead of the discussions and they were very closely considered. I think in retrospect …”
At this point, host Laura Maxwell interrupted to say “but just not with the First Minister” to which Robertson (below) replied: “If I can finish what I was just trying to say.
"I think in retrospect, the main problem, I don’t regret telling the Israelis that they should stop what they’re doing in Gaza, that humanitarian supplies should be allowed in, that a ceasefire should be agreed and that hostages should be released.
“I don’t regret passing that message on.”
In his statement on Monday, Robertson contradicted reports saying he had been asked to attend the meeting by John Swinney – although he said the First Minister was aware it was happening.
Robertson went on to explain that he apologised for the “impression” which was created that the meeting was “some sort of normalisation of relations with Israel”.
He continued: “A whole series of issues were raised by the Israelis …”
At this point, Maxwell interrupted to ask, “such as” before Robertson hit back and said, “again, can I finish please”.
He said that the meeting had also involved discussions about topics such as tourism and energy, and the Cabinet minister conceded it was not an “appropriate space” to do so.
Asked what he hoped to achieve by informing the ambassador of the Scottish Government’s position, Robertson again hit back at the question, saying: “Are you suggesting the meeting should have taken place and one wouldn’t raise something that is a matter of such concern?”
He went on to say that the meeting is the “norm in diplomatic relations” and said that countries across the EU were informing Israeli diplomats of their position.
Asked if he felt an intervention would “sway things in the Middle East” given Benjamin Netanyahu (below) has so far ignored calls for a ceasefire.
Robertson pointed out it was the Israelis who had called for the meeting and although the position would not change solely based on the Scottish Government’s position, this did not mean “one of the key issues of the day” could not be discussed.
Maxwell then asked Robertson if he would meet with Palestinian representatives and he said: “Just on the general position, all meetings need to be considered. But we have met with the Palestinian representative office in the UK, in fact it was they who organised my visit to the West Bank and a meeting with the Palestinian prime minister in the past.
“So we have an ongoing dialogue with the Palestinian delegation based in the UK. We’ve said what we had to say because the situation is so extreme in Gaza and we believe the Israelis should be agreeing to a ceasefire and their war, which has had such a disproportionate impact on civilians in Gaza, should be ended as soon as possible.”
Robertson then hit back at Maxwell again as he said he wanted to make sure Scotland had a voice on the international stage and that “Scotland’s voice does matter”.
He said Scotland wanted to call for a ceasefire and for humanitarian supplies to be allowed in with Maxwell saying: "You’ve made that point."
Robertson replied: “Well, this message matters.”
Finally, the SNP MSP was asked if he had considered his position in the Cabinet. He said: “No I haven’t because I think it was right to communicate the message that we did.
“But I have reflected very strongly on the impact that it has created and the impression it has created which is why I issued the apology yesterday.”
