The European Union announced today that it is canceling a diplomatic reception in Tel Aviv planned for Tuesday to prevent the presence of ultranationalist Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Such an act of protest by the EU delegation in Israel against a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the most right-oriented in Israel's history, could cause a diplomatic dispute between the Jewish state and that bloc in the near future, notes AP.
Israel's relations with the EU are already tense because of Israel's policy in the occupied West Bank. Ben-Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power party, minister of national security, was supposed to represent the Government of Israel at Europe Day on Tuesday.
Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday that Ben-Gvir was chosen by the Cabinet Secretary "not as a representative of the Jewish Power party but to represent the Government of Israel."
However, the EU decided to "cancel the diplomatic reception" because, as stated, it does not want to "offer a platform to someone whose views contradict what the European Union stands for."
Ben-Gvir is a former ultra-right activist, a hardline Jewish settler from the West Bank who was convicted of inciting violence and supporting a Jewish terrorist organization.
As a representative of the government at Europe Day, Ben-Gvir was supposed to address the audience.
He assessed that it is a shame that the EU, which pretends to represent democratic values and multiculturalism, behaves undiplomatically.
Netanyahu became prime minister for the fifth time at the end of December at the head of a coalition of ultra-Orthodox Jewish and ultra-nationalist parties, including Ben-Gvir's small party.
The main priority of that government is the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The EU, like most of the international community, considers Jewish settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.
Israel conquered the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 war.
The Palestinians aspire to establish an independent state on all these territories.
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