EU cancels Europe Day celebrations in Israel over Ben- Gvir’s plan to attend

The European Union mission to Israel has cancelled its Europe Day ceremony scheduled for today, 9 May, after the Israeli government delegated the far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, as its representative.

“The EU Delegation to Israel was looking forward to celebrating Europe Day on 9 May, as it does every year. Regrettably, this year we have decided to cancel the diplomatic reception, as we do not want to offer a platform to someone whose views contradict the values the EU stands for,” the EU office in Israel said in a tweet.

Earlier, European ambassadors to Israel recommended cancelling the event in order to prevent Ben Gvir from delivering his speech, in which he said he would criticise the European policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper quoted diplomats who participated in the ambassadors’ meeting as saying that all ambassadors, with the exception of the ambassadors of Poland and Hungary, opposed Ben Gvir’s participation in the event.

One participant told the paper that Ben Gvir can still make a statement to the media, “but we are not obligated to give him a respectable platform with a microphone and flags.”

On Sunday, Ben Gvir announced that he insisted on giving a speech during the reception, despite clear requests from the European Union and prominent European countries to send another minister.

In response to the decision, he accused the EU of “undiplomatic gagging.”

READ: EU rejects Ben-Gvir’s participation in Europe Day ceremony