The European Union Mission in Israel announced on Monday the cancellation of a diplomatic reception on the occasion of "Europe Day" that was scheduled to be organized tomorrow, Tuesday, in Tel Aviv because the Israeli government sent National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to represent it.
"Unfortunately, this year we decided to cancel diplomatic reception, because we do not want to provide a platform for someone whose views contradict the values that the European Union stands for," the mission said on Twitter.
In turn, the Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" said that "the organizers of the European Union (Europe Day) concert in Tel Aviv canceled the diplomatic reception and all speeches, after Ben Gvir insisted on giving a speech at the ceremony."
Israel's Channel 12 said the EU embassy had sent letters to Israel's Foreign Ministry requesting that Ben Gvir not represent the government at the Europe Day reception.
According to the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli government secretariat said in response to the European demand that it would only do so if the minister asked to replace him, but Ben Gvir announced that he would attend the event and give a speech at the ceremony.
Every year, on the ninth of May, Europe celebrates the so-called "Europe Day" in commemoration of the announcement by the late French Foreign Minister Robert Schumann in 1950 of the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community, which formed the first nucleus of the European Union.