JOHN Swinney has been urged to include plans to fully implement boycott and sanctions against Israel in his Programme for Government.
The First Minister will announce his plans for the coming year on Tuesday as Holyrood returns after summer recess.
The Scottish Greens are calling for all contracts with companies identified by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as complicit in Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank to be ended.
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The party is also calling for councils to be given the powers they need to support the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement by repealing the Thatcher-era law that prevents procurement decisions being based on geographical origin.
On top of that, Scottish ministers have also been urged to issue clear guidance to Scottish businesses urging them to immediately cease trading with Israel, just as they did in relation to Russia in March 2022.
But the SNP have been accused of breaching the commitment amid preparations to issue government bonds.
Earlier this year, the Scottish Government confirmed nine banks which had been chosen to support a £1.5 billion issuance of bonds.
Among the banks signed up was Barclays, which the BDS movement says is “bankrolling Israel’s genocide”.
“We are one year on from Parliament’s historic vote, and the Scottish Government has failed to turn words into action. In most respects they have done the bare minimum and offered little evidence of meaningful change,” Patrick Harvie said.
“If a company is profiting from apartheid and genocide, the Scottish Government must use every power it has to ensure it is not also profiting from public money here in Scotland. That requires more than statements of concern or gestures that change nothing. It requires real, measurable action.”
The Scottish Greens MSP added: “The Programme for Government must be the moment that changes. We need clear commitments and a plan to end Scotland’s complicity in the systemic abuse of Palestinians.
“That means reviewing existing contracts, ending relationships with companies identified as complicit in illegal settlement activity, and giving councils the powers they need to make ethical procurement decisions.”
He went on: “The Scottish Government has already shown that it can act when it chooses to. When Ministers issued guidance to Scottish businesses following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they made clear that the private sector had a responsibility to respond. Palestinians deserve no less.
“The Programme for Government must be the moment that changes. It should set out a clear timetable, concrete measures and a mechanism for accountability, so that Parliament’s vote is finally translated into action.
“We cannot have a boycott in name only. Parliament did not vote for empty gestures. One year on, the Scottish Government needs to deliver.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “As one of the first governments to call for a ceasefire, the Scottish Government has been a clear and consistent advocate for peace, justice and human rights in Gaza. We have taken the most direct and effective action within our own powers to press for an immediate and lasting resolution and an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people.
“In September 2025, the Scottish Government announced a comprehensive package of economic and humanitarian measures in response to the genocide in Gaza. This included a pause on new awards of public money to defence companies whose products or services products are provided to countries where there is plausible evidence of genocide being committed by that country. This measure was implemented immediately and remains in effect."
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