By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
AmextaFinanceAmextaFinance
  • Home
  • News
  • Banking
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans
  • Mortgage
  • Investing
  • Markets
    • Stocks
    • Commodities
    • Crypto
    • Forex
  • Videos
  • More
    • Finance
    • Dept Management
    • Small Business
Notification Show More
Aa
AmextaFinanceAmextaFinance
Aa
  • Banking
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans
  • Dept Management
  • Mortgage
  • Markets
  • Investing
  • Small Business
  • Videos
  • Home
  • News
  • Banking
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans
  • Mortgage
  • Investing
  • Markets
    • Stocks
    • Commodities
    • Crypto
    • Forex
  • Videos
  • More
    • Finance
    • Dept Management
    • Small Business
Follow US
AmextaFinance > News > EU cancels Israel event after hard-right minister plans to attend
News

EU cancels Israel event after hard-right minister plans to attend

News Room
Last updated: 2023/05/08 at 12:37 PM
By News Room
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

The EU’s delegation to Israel has cancelled a diplomatic event in Tel Aviv, after the Israeli government decided to send the extreme-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, as its representative.

The delegation had been due to hold its annual reception to mark Europe Day — which celebrates peace and unity in Europe — on Tuesday. But after a meeting of EU ambassadors on Monday, it said it had decided to call off this year’s event.

“We do not want to offer a platform to someone whose views contradict the values the EU stands for,” the delegation said in a statement, adding that a separate cultural event for the Israeli public would go ahead as planned.

The spat is the latest sign of the extent to which relations between Israel and the EU have soured since Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline new government — widely regarded as the most rightwing in Israeli history — took office last year.

A settler previously convicted of incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organisation, Ben-Gvir is one of the most hardline figures in the new government, which unites Netanyahu’s Likud with two ultraorthodox parties and three ultranationalist factions, including Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party.

Until a couple of years ago, Ben-Gvir kept in his house a picture of a Jewish supremacist who gunned down 29 Palestinians in a mosque in Hebron in 1994.

Along with finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, he is also one of the most outspoken proponents of expanding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The EU, like most of the international community, considers these settlements illegal.

After the EU announced that it would cancel the event, Ben-Gvir accused the bloc of double standards. “It is a shame that the European Union, which claims to represent the values of democracy and multiculturalism, practices undiplomatic silencing,” he said in a statement.

“Real friends know how to voice criticism and true friends know how to hear it as well.”

Ben-Gvir had confirmed on Sunday that he intended to speak at the event in Tel Aviv, and that he planned to “point out that it is appropriate that the countries not finance projects against [Israeli] soldiers and Israeli residents”.

Steffen Seibert, Germany’s ambassador to Israel and former spokesman for Angela Merkel, wrote on Twitter of the decision to cancel the event that “I wish this hadn’t been necessary — but it was.”

Former prime minister Yair Lapid, who heads Israel’s largest opposition party Yesh Atid, accused the new government of mismanaging the country’s foreign relations by selecting Ben-Gvir to represent it at the event.

“The current government is getting us into unnecessary fights and created a crisis with the [EU] just so that Ben-Gvir will once again embarrass in front of the world with an unnecessary speech,” he wrote on Twitter.

Read the full article here

News Room May 8, 2023 May 8, 2023
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Copy Link Print
Leave a comment Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Finance Weekly Newsletter

Join now for the latest news, tips, and analysis about personal finance, credit cards, dept management, and many more from our experts.
Join Now
SpaceX Starship rocket fails to deploy satellites and explodes on re-entry

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects…

Curiosity underlies a breakthrough in rare disease

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects…

CEO churn rate at carmakers rises amid EV shift, tariffs and Chinese competition

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Automobiles myFT Digest…

Christine Lagarde discussed leaving ECB early to head WEF, Klaus Schwab says

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects…

Stellantis names Antonio Filosa as chief

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects…

- Advertisement -
Ad imageAd image

You Might Also Like

News

SpaceX Starship rocket fails to deploy satellites and explodes on re-entry

By News Room
News

Curiosity underlies a breakthrough in rare disease

By News Room
News

CEO churn rate at carmakers rises amid EV shift, tariffs and Chinese competition

By News Room
News

Christine Lagarde discussed leaving ECB early to head WEF, Klaus Schwab says

By News Room
News

Stellantis names Antonio Filosa as chief

By News Room
News

Saudi AI company courts US tech investors and plans $10bn venture fund

By News Room
News

Elon Musk criticises Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax bill

By News Room
News

US contractor hires obscure Gaza group for aid rollout after local snubs

By News Room
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Youtube Instagram
Company
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Press Release
  • Contact
  • Advertisement
More Info
  • Newsletter
  • Market Data
  • Credit Cards
  • Videos

Sign Up For Free

Subscribe to our newsletter and don't miss out on our programs, webinars and trainings.

I have read and agree to the terms & conditions
Join Community

2023 © Indepta.com. All Rights Reserved.

YOUR EMAIL HAS BEEN CONFIRMED.
THANK YOU!

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?