JOHN Swinney asked External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson to attend a highly-criticised meeting with a senior Israeli diplomat, according to reports.

The Daily Record has reported that the First Minister’s office sent an “engagement request” to Robertson’s staff to attend the meeting with Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky.

Robertson has faced criticism for attending the meeting – which was only made public four days after it took place – where the two parties discussed “areas of mutual interest, including culture, renewable energy, and engaging the country’s respective diasporas”.

The meeting has previously been defended by Swinney, who claimed the Scottish Government had accepted the meeting on the basis it could reiterate the “clear and unwavering position on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza”.

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A senior SNP source told the paper: “The FM’s office gave what is called an ‘engagement request’ to Robertson’s staff to take the meeting.

“The issue of Palestine has been the one thing that the party appeared to be doing well on.

“Robertson’s meeting has been viewed as destroying the SNP’s hard-won reputation.

“This revelation will cause more mayhem. Anyone calling for Robertson’s resignation has to call for the First Minister’s as well.”

Another senior parliamentarian said: “Angus has been asked to go on John’s behalf. If you get a request from the FM’s office to attend an engagement, you don’t say no. You have to go.

“So if John did what people are asking for and sacked Angus, he would have to resign.”

Meanwhile, a leaked email from MSP Christine Grahame (above) sent to the First Minister branded Robertson a “liability”.

“I have long considered AR [Angus Robertson] a luxury the front bench does not need. He is now, in my view, a liability,” she wrote.

The SNP has been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza since last year, with the party’s MPs lodging a motion in Westminster calling for an immediate ceasefire in February.

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SNP MP Brendan O’Hara has said that the work of the SNP in Westminster and its position on Gaza had been “undone by the decision of the Scottish Government” to agree to the meeting.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The deputy ambassador originally requested meetings with several ministers, including the First Minister.

“It is not customary protocol for a First Minister to engage with diplomats at the level of deputy ambassador.

“The Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs represents all portfolios externally and sees diplomats as a core function of his role. As such, he undertook this meeting.”