LONDON // Israel has been forced to apologise to the British government after one of its London embassy officials was caught in an undercover television investigation discussing plans to “take down” politicians with pro-Palestinian sympathies. Sir Alan Duncan, Britain’s deputy foreign secretary, was the immediate target of the Israeli official, Shai Masot, in his recorded conversation with a British civil servant. But the crude exchanges about discrediting him, which British media has presented as a possible attempt to destroy his political career, appears to have been part of a wider discussion affecting a number of members of parliament. The Israeli embassy in London has sought to play down the significance of the discussion – and also the embassy role of the official concerned – and insists they did not reflect policy. Sir Alan is on record as fully supporting Israel’s right to existence. But he regards Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as an “ever-deepening stain on the face of the globe”. He has likened the conditions created by Israel actions in Hebron to apartheid, and argues that “no endorser of Israeli settlement” is fit to stand for election or belong to a mainstream political party. Mr Masot, a political officer at the Israeli embassy, was filmed during Al Jazeera’s six-month “sting” operation in conversation with Maria Strizzolo, then chief of staff for Robert Halfon, deputy chairman of Britain’s governing Conservative party. He asked, during a restaurant meal recorded last October, whether she could help to “take down” specific parliamentarians, whose identities – he is heard to say – she knew. When asked to be reminded, he mentioned “the deputy foreign secretary”. As details surfaced at the end of last week, Mark Regev, the Israeli ambassador, apologised to Sir Alan. His embassy said Mr Masot’s remarks about MPs were “completely unacceptable”. A British foreign office spokeswoman told <em>The National</em>: "The Israeli ambassador has apologised and is clear these comments do not reflect the views of the embassy or government of Israel. The UK has a strong relationship with Israel and we consider the matter closed." But Crispin Blunt, the chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs select committee and another politician mentioned in the conversation, told British media Mr Masot’s comments were “outrageous” and called for further investigation. He added that Israeli hopes of peace and security were not served by “ignoring the substantial peace lobby in both Israel and the worldwide Jewish community and working to undermine those foreign politicians who share that perspective”. Mr Masot does not explain precisely what he means about “taking down” politicians or how Sir Alan might be destabilised. But in their conversation, Ms Strizzolo refers to “a little scandal maybe”. The <em>Guardian</em> newspaper quoted Ms Strizzolo as rejecting any sinister interpretation of "a few out-of-context snippets of a conversation, obtained by subterfuge". “The context of the conversation was light, tongue-in-cheek and gossip,” she told the newspaper. “Any suggestion that I, as a civil servant working in education, could ever exert the [this] type of influence … is risible. Shai Masot is someone I know purely socially and as a friend. He is not someone with whom I have ever worked or had any political dealings beyond chatting about politics, as millions of people do, in a social context.” In the Al Jazeera film, in which a reporter poses as “Robin”, from the opposition Labour party’s Friends of Israel group, Mr Masot calls Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary and Sir Alan’s boss, “an idiot”, though Ms Strizzolo describes him as “solid on Israel”. Sir Alan’s pro-Palestinian views place him among a minority of senior Conservatives. Britain is at odds with the outgoing Obama administration in the United States after criticising the language used by the US Secretary of State John Kerry who blasted Israel in a speech last month. Yiftah Curiel, spokesman for the Israeli embassy, tweeted: “The embassy of Israel rejects the remarks concerning minister Duncan, which are completely unacceptable. The remarks were made by a junior embassy employee who is not an Israeli diplomat and who will be ending his term of employment with the embassy shortly.” foreign.desk@thenational.ae
