Greens say Scottish companies must boycott Israel

Scottish companies must sever ties with Israel, Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer has said.

It follows the Scottish Government last week suspending the award of public money to defence firms supplying Israel.

Raising the issue at First Minister’s Questions, Greer welcomed that announcement but urged John Swinney to go further.

He argued the government must “take the same actions against Israel that it already has against Russia”.

Swinney condemned the attacks on Gaza as “unjustifiable” and urged the UK Government to take action to ensure the Israeli government was held to account for its actions.

He added the airstrike on Qatar, where senior Hamas leaders had been meeting, was an “unwarranted and unjustifiable” and would “undermine” the peace process.

However he stopped short of calling for Scottish companies to join the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement.

Greer also called for British citizens who have served in Israeli forces to be investigated under the International Criminal Court Act.

The first minister said it would be “wrong” for him to intervene on such matters given the independence of the justice system.

He said: “These would be judgements made independently by the prosecutorial authorities. It would be wrong for me as first minister to indicate what should or should not happen in those circumstances.”

Earlier in FMQs, Swinney defended his government’s record on justice issues after Labour’s Anas Sarwar expressed concern about a rise in shoplifting.

Sarwar accused the government of taking a “soft touch approach to crime” and urged Swinney to “apologise for effectively legalising shoplifting in Scotland”.

The first minister said this was a “baseless charge which is unworthy of the Labour leader”, pointing to an increase in funding for justice and specific cash to tackle retail crime.