Israeli Minister Unable to Attend COP26 Due to No Wheelchair Access

She had to wait outside the venue in Glasgow for two hours before having no choice but to go back to her hotel.

Israeli Ministry of Energy Karine Elharrar

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@trhaber_com)

Karine Elharrar, the incumbent Israeli Minister of Energy told the Times of Israel that she was unable to attend the COP26 meeting on Monday, 1 November, because no arrangements had been made for people on wheelchairs to enter the conference hall, BBC reported.

The minister even tweeted that it was "sad" that an international institution like the United Nations "does not provide accessibility to its events".

Elharrar told reporters that she could not attend the conference due to the limited options for getting there, which were were either walking or taking a shuttle bus that had no facility for wheelchairs.

An official in the Israeli delegation stated that they had lodged a formal complaint with the organising committee of COP26.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also said he would not attend the conference on Tuesday if the minister from his cabinet faces the same issue again.

“This is scandalous conduct and it shouldn’t have happened,” Elharrar told Ynet, a major Israeli news site, as reported by the Times of Israel.

“I came with certain goals, and I couldn’t achieve them today.”

The UK ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan, in a tweet, apologised for the incident.

Elharrar had to wait outside the venue in Glasgow for approximately two hours before having no choice but to go back to her accommodation in Edinburgh more than 80 km away, BBC added.

(With inputs from BBC and Times of Israel)