British Minister for International Development Priti Patel, who came under fire these days for not respecting diplomatic protocol during a private family vacation in Israel, resigned after meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May today. Patel, who met the prime minister shortly after arriving from Kenya, was criticized by the British government, the media and the opposition after it emerged that she had met with senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, without informing the British embassy in advance. She also visited the Israeli military field hospital on the Golan Heights organized for the wounded from Syria. Like the rest of the international community, the British government does not recognize Israel's control of the Golan, which the Israeli army won in the Six-Day War in 1967 and later annexed, Israeli media remind. Diplomatic protocol dictates that British ministers and senior officials do not travel to the Golan, nor to the West Bank, nor visit East Jerusalem under the patronage of Israel. That is why the British minister's visit to a Polish hospital as a guest of the Israeli government during her holiday was a clear breach of protocol. After returning to London, she suggested that Great Britain help fund the hospital for Syrian refugees and victims of the civil war. This is not the first time that the British government has had problems with operations in the Golan.
In 2008, that government demanded that the Israeli company Elbit, which makes drones for the British military, test the drones somewhere else instead of over the Golan. Patel released a statement this Sunday about the 12 meetings she had in Israel. Among other things, she met with the leader of the Israeli center opposition party Yesh Atid (There is a Future) and the Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan. Britain's ITV political editor reported that Patel had returned to London at the Prime Minister's request, cutting short her visit to face the fate of her ministerial post. Robert Peston specifically mentioned her meeting with Minister Erdan on September 5. The minister was accompanied by Lord Stuart Polak, honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel, who said the meetings were unofficial and all very innocent. With Netanyahu, she discussed her experience growing up in a part of England with a large Jewish community, Israel's domestic political scene and the prospects for closer cooperation between Israel and Great Britain on development and humanitarian issues. Patel was supposed to be in Uganda and Ethiopia until Friday. Britain's opposition Labor Party called for Patel's dismissal for breaching ministerial conduct rules. Visits by British politicians to Israel are always accompanied by diplomatic staff with an agenda designed to reflect the country's policies - for example, to hold meetings with Palestinians or groups and individuals not on good terms with the Israeli government. Patel is the second cabinet member to leave office in a short period of time, since Defense Secretary Michael Fallon resigned on November 1 following allegations of sexual harassment.
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