The media are buzzing with the on-again/off-again sacking of Foreign Aid Minister Priti Patel in the ongoing saga of the damaging revelations that Ms Patel had a series of undisclosed meetings in Israel, including with Israeli PM Netanyahu. News has broken moments ago that there were in fact two more meetings than had already come to light.
It’s clear that Ms Patel committed a serious breach of the ministerial code and most journalists are giving her from minutes to half a day before she is sacked or forced to resign.
But it appears that a breach of the code may not be anywhere near the end of the matter.
The visit
Ms Patel’s secret meetings took place during a ‘holiday’ in Israel that her office says she funded personally.
However, those meetings took place while Ms Patel’s subordinate Alastair Burt was also in Israel on an official visit – a fact that Sky News political editor Faisal Islam considered bizarre and noteworthy:
‘Weird’ indeed.
The ‘aid’
Yesterday, the government admitted that Ms Patel had tried to obtain UK foreign aid funding for the Israeli military’s ‘humanitarian’ work in the Golan Heights, a disputed area between Israel and Syria.
The ‘humanitarian’ work
In June, the Times of Israel (ToI) published an article with a bombshell admission that attracted relatively little attention here:
The Wall Street Journal had earlier published claims that this was the case, but they were furiously denied by Netanyahu. However, at the end of the month, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon admitted that they were true: Israel was treating wounded Syrian fighters to facilitate their return to fight in Syria.
Including ISIS fighters.
According to the ToI, those helped by this ‘humanitarian’ action are:
forces that are fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad
Forces ‘fighting to overthrow…Assad’ include, of course, so-called Islamic State.
The net effect
The net result of all this is that Priti Patel held unauthorised, undisclosed meetings in Israel, then came home and tried to channel UK aid funds to Israeli military ‘humanitarian’ work that consists of treating Syrian fighters and returning them to the Syrian conflict. Including, possibly, ISIS and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra.
Ms Patel’s resignation is only sufficient for this if a breach of the Ministerial Code is all that she has committed. It must be urgently investigated whether this is in fact the case, as it is at least possible that it was far, far worse – and the ‘MSM’ must ask this question publicly if they’re to do their job.
The SKWAWKBOX needs your support. This blog is provided free of charge but depends on the generosity of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
It was interesting to hear Blunt and other Tories quietly pointing out that the all the main participants in this affair, including Burt, are devoted members of Friends of Israel, like so many MPs. The perception is therefore of a “Secret second foreign policy” that favours Israel over Palestine. It is all the more damaging when the ME totters on the edge of new wars, Israel v Lebanon, Saudis v Iran. In 2014 MP’s rejected calls to attack Assad’s Syria. Today a vote to join Israel et al in the new war would be won by those many Friends of Israel. What is so attractive about those organisations?
What a marvelous idea from Priti Patel, for Britain to give the IDF funding, even though it receives its cut of the $billions donated by the USA to enable it to drop burning white phosphorous on Palestinian kids!
This Tory Government is a sick joke, it’s about time the lot of them cleared off.
Reblogged this on Hercules space.
Genie Energy also located in The Golan.
Genie Energy with Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch as shareholders
Alistair Burt the son of my childhood doctor!
Not that has anything to do with this debacle!
One down, Johnson following later along with a few others!
Whoopee no more Tory Party!
Beeb radio broadcast a documentary concerning the Israelis’ treatment of Syrian rebels. It consisted of very emotive language and very emotive music.
It didn’t mention ISIS or Al-Qaeda, just Syrian rebels.
Reblogged this on Jaffer's blog.
Reblogged this on sdbast.
Friends of israel groups in ALL parties should be closed down. Our MPs primary allegiance should, surely, be the UK – not to some fundementalist fascist regime. We pay their wages – get with the programme!
Totally agree!
More Cabinet MPs being alienated and sent to the back benches that can only be a good thing if they want revenge!
To anyone that has followed the proxy war on Syria in new and independent media sources and journalists this is just more of the same (supporting and arming extremists who are largely terrorists), it’s all part of western led and or backed tactics. Britain is one of a block of countries wishing and working for ‘regime change’ in Syria trying to destroy a sovereign country, its history and secular society in the process. The self designated ‘free world’ wished to inflict extreme and repressive sectarianism on the population of Syria and destroy the nation state shattering it into weak and or compliant infighting ‘zones’ where ‘market forces’ are free to do their worst.
Syrians with their allies have resisted the terrible assault inflicted on them which included the most disgusting war propaganda, stripping and theft of whole factories/industrial areas, long term severe economic sanctions causing poverty and extreme suffering due to shortages of food, employment, medical equipment and life saving drugs etc. political assault/lobbying and militarized terrorism.
Will Patel be toast? Perhaps pressure will build enough to force her out, I wont hold my breath. She is already off representing ‘British interests’ abroad… my question is, which sector of so called British interests?
‘Ms Patel’s resignation is only sufficient for this if a breach of the Ministerial Code is all that she has committed’
Borderline treason in my opinion.
Certainly the T word would be the only word printed on every page in our yellow, corporate, fifth column excuse for a media if this were a Labour Minister supportive of the policies associated with Corbyn until that Minister were literally hung drawn and quartered.