Why is the SNP tearing itself apart over Israel meeting?

How and when did the row erupt?

The first murmurings of discontent inside the party came early last week after Israel's deputy ambassador to the UK Daniela Grudsky posted a photo on the social media platform X of her with Cabinet minister Angus Robertson.

The senior diplomat wrote: "Thank you Angus Robertson for welcoming us to wonderful Scotland. Discussed the unique commonalities between Scotland and Israel 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."

READ MORE: More MSPs criticise Robertson over Israel meeting

Mr Robertson did not reply to the message on social media, but within hours many in his party had done so.

They included James Dornan, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Cathcart who is a member of the SNP's Friends of Palestine group.

He wrote: "Was there any mention of stopping your genocidal behaviour in Gaza? I certainly hope so."

In response to the fury on social media, a spokesman for Mr Robertson released a press statement confirming the meeting with Ms Grudsky on August 8.

READ MORE: Swinney faces demands to sack Robertson as SNP fury grows

The statement said: “They discussed areas of mutual interest, including culture, renewable energy, and engaging the country’s respective diasporas.

“Following the criminal and far-right acts we have seen in parts of England and Northern Ireland, the Cabinet Secretary emphasised the Scottish Government’s continued work with Police Scotland to protect Scotland’s faith communities and tackle all hate crimes, including antisemitism, head on.

“Mr Robertson reiterated the Scottish Government’s position in calling for an immediate ceasefire by all sides in Gaza, the unconditional release of all hostages and the opening of safe routes to allow more humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza."

Some background on the SNP and Gaza.

What shocked many in the SNP was the rather friendly tone of the approach taken by Mr Robertson.

The party has been among the most prominent in condemning the killing of people in Gaza - with the death toll of Palestinians now more than 40,000 - in reprisals for the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7 last year.

It was the first major party in the UK to call for an immediate ceasefire - criticising the Conservatives and Labour over what it regarded as too friendly a relationship with Israel.

Essentially, internal critics in the SNP fear Mr Robertson's approach is at odds with a more hostile attitude adopted towards the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the party has thus taken.

READ MORE: Humza Yousaf makes emotional plea to Holyrood over Palestine

Only the week before the former First Minister Humza Yousaf recalled how his parents in law Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla were trapped in Gaza for a month at the start of the Israeli military's bombardment of the region and were still traumatised by what they had experienced there.

He said the couple is preparing to give eyewitness testimony to deliver to the International Criminal Court (ICC) amid a war crimes investigation against Israel and were 'extremely traumatised' by their experience under siege.

He said they witnessed an eight-year-old girl land in their garden with a broken spine following a bomb blast.

(Image: PA) Former First Minister Humza Yousaf, his wife Nadia El Nakla, and family members including Nadia's parents Elizabeth and Maged El Nakla as they were pictured at home in Scotland after managing to flee Gaza where they were trapped for a month. Photo PA.

"The things they've seen and endured will live with them for their whole lives," he told an interviewer at the Edinburgh Fringe on August 8.

While Mr Yousaf has been among the few people not to speak about the meetings between Mr Robertson and Ms Grudsky, his wife Nadia El Nakla has made her views known.

Ms El Nakla is convener of the SNP's Friends of Palestine and on Friday the group released a statement urging Mr Robertson to apologise.

In a statement, the SNP Friends of Palestine, said: “While we know Mr Robertson called for a ceasefire, we cannot condone his statement advocating for further co-operation between Scotland and Israel, especially while Israel continues its genocide in Gaza and ongoing persecution of Palestinians in the West Bank.

“The PM of Israel has an arrest warrant from the ICC [International Criminal Court] pending and the ICJ are continuing their investigation into the genocide in Palestine by Israel. We cannot, and should not have normal relations with Israel. We would urge the party to issue an apology and a guarantee, especially for our Palestinian citizens, that this normalisation of the state of Israel will not happen again.”

Deepening controversy

During Friday, the SNP row intensified with calls from across the party for Mr Robertson to be sacked or to step down.

It emerged that day that MPs wrote to Mr Roberton to complain his actions had undermined their stance on Israel and Gaza at Westminster.

“I simply cannot fathom why, with such well-documented breaches of International Humanitarian Law and with an ongoing investigation by the ICC [International Criminal Court] into crime of genocide against Israel, that the Scottish Government thought it politically ... or morally... appropriate to engage in discussion about future cooperation in the fields of technology, culture, and renewable energy with a representative of this regime," Brendan O'Hara told Mr Robertson in a letter leaked to Holyrood magazine.

“In my opinion, no such discussions should be taking place with a government who is responsible for causing such unfathomable pain and suffering.”

John Mason and the "dead cat" media strategy

To complicate the row further in stepped backbench MSP John Mason, who had also met with Ms Grudsky.

Late on Friday night, Mr Mason posted comments on X saying: "If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed 10 times as many."

His words provoked further anger in the SNP with the party swiftly withdrawing the whip from the Glasgow Shettleston MSP the next day.

Some commentators said the disciplinary action against Mr Mason was a helpful distraction away from Mr Roberton's woes.

"Dead cat strategy via John Mason," wrote Mandy Rhodes on X after Mr Mason was suspended on Saturday.

What happens next?

There is little sign of the row going away anytime soon and - as the situation currently stands anyway - not before the SNP's annual conference.

A motion being prepared by members in Dalkeith calls for Mr Robertson to be investigated by the SNP's conduct committee for "bringing the party into disrepute" and to be suspended as a minister pending a Scottish Government investigation.

It is thought members could also bring emergency resolutions to force a debate on the situation in Gaza which would then allow them to talk more about Mr Robertson.

(Image: PA) First Minister John Swinney is to address his party at its annual conference later this month. Photo PA.

“Unless John wants the conference from hell, in less than a fortnight, he’ll ask Angus to resign,” they said. “The membership is furious.”

They added: “Angus has been totally out of his depth, to say the least in his external affairs role. On Gaza, he’s been the invisible man. And he’s been jetting off to China in another tone-deaf meeting

“There’s a strong feeling in the party that we can’t afford these self-inflicted f***-ups.

“Since Nicola [Sturgeon] left [as SNP leader and FM], as with the Matheson affair, no one gets the instant sack when they’ve done something wrong.”

However, the difficulty for Mr Swinney — who has already defended his cabinet colleague — is that he instructed Mr Robertson to meet with Ms Grudsky.

The Sunday Mail reported that the First Minister had also been invited to the meeting with the diplomat but sent an “engagement request” to Mr Robertson’s office, asking that he go instead.

This afternoon Mr Robertson apologised for meeting Ms Grudsky and said there would be no further talks with the Israeli government.

"This meeting has been taken by many to represent a normalisation of relations between the Israeli and Scottish Governments," he said in a statement this afternoon.

“As such, it is clear that it would have been better to ensure that the meeting was strictly limited to the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the appalling loss of life in the region. I apologise for the fact that this did not happen."

He added: "Going forward, it is clear that, having now spoken direct to the Israeli Government and making them aware of our position on an immediate ceasefire, it would not be appropriate to accept any invitation for a further meeting."

The Scottish Government will be hoping the apology draws a line under the row and the SNP move on as a party.

Following its dire election result on July 4 and as the SNP prepares for the Holyrood election in 2026, a protracted row over Mr Robertson's meeting with a senior Israeli diplomat is a controversy the party could well do without.