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RACHEL Reeves has been condemned for meeting with a controversial Israeli official at Labour conference this week.
The Chancellor was pictured standing alongside the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, in a tweet shared by the official on Thursday (below).
"Thank you so much to our dear friends at Labour Friends for Israel for such a warm welcome in Liverpool, and for standing in solidarity with the Israeli people," she said.
Thank you so much to our dear friends at @_LFI for such a warm welcome in Liverpool, and for standing in solidarity with the Israeli people. Am Yisrael Chai!! pic.twitter.com/pKwGcpR0gb
— Tzipi Hotovely (@TzipiHotovely) September 25, 2024
A former deputy foreign minister, Hotovely – who has been described as “ultra-right-wing” – supports the construction of settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, once declaring "this land is ours, all of it is ours".
Since being appointed UK ambassador, she has also called the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from land in what would become the state of Israel, "an Arab lie".
She was also asked by Sky News last year whether Israel would accept Palestinians having their own state.
She replied: “Absolutely no."
The meeting, which happened at a Labour Friends of Israel event at the conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, has been described by the Scottish Greens as “appalling”.
Also pictured speaking at the event were Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Labour ministers Pat McFadden and Peter Kyle.
“It’s appalling for any politician to even consider giving people like this the legitimacy of a meeting, let alone posing for a picture at a party conference,” Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie (above) said.
“The Israeli government has inflicted war crimes upon the people of Gaza over the past year, and their government has been found guilty in the International Court of Justice of committing apartheid and illegally occupying territory in the West Bank.”
Harvie added: “Rachel Reeves should be ashamed to have met Ms Hotovely, but Labour has consistently failed to take actions to protect Palestinian lives. They have had ample opportunities to end arms sales to Israel and condemn the genocide, yet they continue to embrace them at their conference.”
Hotovely had planned to visit Scottish synagogues earlier this year but later cancelled - citing a “scheduling conflict”.
However, the cancellation also came off the back of opposition a group of Scottish Jews who signed an open letter, and called on the Scottish Government to put "maximum pressure" on Westminster to expel Hotovely from the UK.
Her appointment as ambassador to the UK was strongly criticised by senior members of the Jewish community in the UK at the time.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign said the meeting was “shocking but not surprising”.
“Hotovely has long been an advocate of denying Palestinians equal rights anywhere in historic Palestine,” they said.
“This is shameful.”
The Labour Party and the Israeli Embassy have been approached for comment.
