Scottish Tories make first visit to Israel

A group of Conservative members of the Scottish Parliament are visiting Israel this week as part of the first ever delegation of its kind.

The nine-strong delegation, led by chief whip John Lamont MSP, will meet Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum as well as UK Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey and the Israel-Britain Chamber of Commerce.

The delegation will also visit coexistence projects bringing Israelis and Palestinians together and ‘Save a Child’s Heart’ in Holon, which provides life-saving heart surgery for children from developing countries.

John Lamont said: “The UK-Israel relationship is stronger than ever and Scotland is playing an increasingly central role in this. I look forward to exploring ways that we can further these political, cultural and economic ties with the Jewish state”.

They are expecting to hold talks with Ksenia Svetlova from the Zionist Union, Benny Begin of Likud and Yaakov Margi of Shas.

The trip follows a successful election in May 2016 for the Party in Scotland, which saw them leapfrog Labour as the second party in the Scottish parliament, now with 31 seats.