There is a certain irony that a documentary series purporting to expose the attempts of a foreign government to influence the UK political scene should have been made by Al Jazeera, a news organisation funded by the Qatari government.
But the foreign government targeted by the undercover filming was, of course, Israel. The Mail on Sunday screamed 'Israel Plot To Take Down Tory Minister' — an arresting headline with just one problem.
The story provided no evidence of any plot. Rather, the worst thing Al Jazeera managed to find after 6 months of filming was a series of juvenile boasts over lunch between a contract employee of the Israeli Embassy and a part time aide to a minister.
Shai Masot said how he and his colleagues would rather Sir Alan Duncan was not in office. Given Sir Alan's open and repeated hostility to Israel, it would perhaps have been more newsworthy had Mr Masot not said that.
