Nicola Sturgeon has told Scottish Jews that some comments she made during last year’s Gaza conflict had not been sufficiently nuanced.

Addressing 250 people at a hybrid event on Sunday, the First Minister said that having listened to communal concerns, she accepted that she had not got the balance right.

She supported the rights of Palestinians and regarded some Israeli government actions as illegal. However, she was a strong proponent of a two-state solution and had engaged in a long conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, in Glasgow last year.

“The situation is not binary — it’s not 100 per cent right or wrong on one side or the other and we need to remember that.”

Ms Sturgeon had suggested the meeting to hear from community members at first hand and addressed an audience of 70 at the Glasgow venue, plus 40 gathered for the Edinburgh link-up and some 130 tuning in on Zoom.

In her opening remarks, she acknowledged the resonance to Jews of the plight of Ukrainian refugees and noted the role of Jewish charities, specifically Magen David Adom, in bringing orphans to safety in Scotland.

She aspired to an open and inclusive Scotland where anyone wanting to settle was welcomed and regarded as a valued member of society. “Scotland wouldn’t be the country we are today without the contribution of and the importance of our Jewish community.”

Ms Sturgeon praised the Jewish students she had met recently for their frankness in discussing the problems they experienced on campus, issues that resonated across the wider Jewish community.

“I want to make this point very forcibly: So long as anyone feels discriminated against, we as a government have more work to do.”

Antisemitism and the Middle East were recurrent themes of questions submitted in advance, or from the live audience.

Asked about antisemitism in politics, Ms Sturgeon accepted that her own SNP party, like others, had faced problems.

The SNP had sought advice from the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC) and had followed through with tough action when required.

And responding to a comment that the government included two ministers from the Green Party, a party that “out-Corbyned Corbyn”, Ms Sturgeon said: “I am not able to speak for another political party. But I do speak for and am accountable for every minister in my government.

“My government is a signatory to the IHRA definition of antisemitism and all ministers have to be clear that they sign up to that and accept that — and that includes the two Green ministers.

“There is no tolerance in my government for antisemitism or discrimination, prejudice, racism of any kind. I want to assure you of that very, very clearly.”

She noted SCoJeC’s appreciation of funding from the Connected Communities Division, adding that her government also supported the Holocaust Educational Trust.

“As generations pass, it is vital that future generations understand what happened. However, understanding the Holocaust is not the same as understanding what it’s like for Jewish communities in countries across the world today.”

In Glasgow, Perele Rubin presented the First Minister with a bouquet of flowers and a book about her Glasgow Southside constituency, once home to a significant Jewish community.
SCoJeC’s Jewish Scotland Connected programme manager, Mike Beral, said afterwards that despite a few IT hiccups, the event had been a success in technology terms.

“We will learn from this excellent start to ensure that our future hybrid events are even better.”