BICOM

The Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel, resigned last night after it emerged that she held high-level meetings in Israel without informing the Prime Minister or UK diplomats.

Patel arrived at Number 10 for a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May just after 6pm on Wednesday. Last Friday it emerged that Ms Patel held 12 meetings with senior Israeli officials, including with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a private family holiday in August without informing the British Embassy in advance and with no officials present. Patel was accompanied by Lord Polak, the honorary president of Conservative Friends of Israel. One of the meetings in August was with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and he tweeted a photo of himself with Patel and Polak on the day of the meeting.

Haaretz reported yesterday that Patel breached UK diplomatic protocol by visiting an Israeli army field hospital set up in the Golan Heights. The UK Government does not recognise Israeli sovereignty on the Golan and standard practice is for UK officials and politicians not to visit under Israeli escort. Upon her return, Patel asked her officials to explore whether UK aid money could support the Israeli humanitarian operation on the Golan providing medical treatment to Syrian refugees.

Patel released a statement on Monday providing details of her 12 meetings in Israel with politicians, officials and charities. But on Wednesday it emerged she had held two more private meetings – with Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan in Parliament on 7 September and with Yuval Rotem, from the Israeli foreign ministry, during the UN general assembly in New York.

In her resignation letter to Prime Minister May, Patel said: “I accept that in meeting with organisations and politicians during a private holiday in Israel my actions fell below the high standards that are expected of a Secretary of State.”

“While my actions were meant with the best of intentions, my actions also fell below the standards of transparency and openness that I have promoted and advocated,” she added.

In response, the Prime Minister said: “As you know, the UK and Israel are close allies and it is right that we should work closely together. But that must be done formally and through official channels.” She added: “Now that further details have come to light, it is right that you have decided to resign and adhere to the high standards of transparency and openness that you have advocated.”

The Leader of Israel’s Opposition party, Isaac Herzog, said that Ms Patel “served the people with passion and honour. I had the great pleasure of meeting her on many occasions and saw her dedication. It’s a great loss for Israel and also for the people of the UK”.