Written by By Maura Walters, CNN Written by Maura Walters, CNN
Prime Minister Theresa May has apologized to the Israeli minister for Trade and Industry after he was barred from attending an international climate change conference due to accessibility issues, Israeli media reported.
Muhammad Shabak’s access to the 2018 COP 26 in Poland was denied without explanation, he said in a statement. Shabak was stranded at the conference, unable to interact with other delegates, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and for most of the day stood in the lobby of the hotel that was housing him.
Only after May intervened did a sign order be passed allowing the minister entry, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
A prime minister’s spokesman told CNN in an email that while Shabak is not a special government envoy for the conference, he was invited to attend as an Israeli government official and it was the British Embassy’s responsibility to issue such a waiver.
The Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday saying Shabak could not attend the conference because of the matter, though it did not specify which one of the conference organizers did not want him at the event.
“He was turned away because he was prevented from using the corridor that was designed to provide him with access,” the statement said.
When he arrived in Poland, Shabak spoke to delegates at the opening, according to the Jerusalem Post.
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The conference was hosted by Poland, the first country to sign the Paris agreement in 2015. During his time at the summit, Shabak held bilateral meetings with Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, Czech Environment Minister Tomas Sycek and Japanese Minister for National Resources Yukihiko Sugimura, the Israeli daily reported.
May agreed with the secretary general of the UN’s climate summit, Patricia Espinosa, after the matter came to light, Haaretz reported.
“The prime minister was, of course, very sorry that the minister, as a special envoy for the country of Israel, was barred from the conference through no fault of his own,” May’s spokesman said.
Shabak said in a statement that he was grateful to have the opportunity to communicate with EU leaders.
“During the conference, even though my wheelchair was not allowed to go around the hotels, it was important for me to attend the opening reception of the conference where I met with EU leaders,” he said.
This isn’t the first time Europe has found itself at the center of a climate change incident — last year, a Saudi diplomat’s luggage was grounded in Austria after luggage inspectors noticed the cargo bore a fake sticker falsely indicating it was from a third country.