National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir still plans to attend the Europe Day celebrations at the European Union (EU) embassy in Tel Aviv this Tuesday despite opposition in the EU to his participation.
Ben-Gvir was selected last week to be the government's representative to the celebration, sparking outrage from EU officials, who requested that a different representative be sent.
Many EU officials refuse to meet with Ben-Gvir, citing his alleged far-right and racist politics.
The EU embassy said in a statement that "as it does every year, it has asked the Government of Israel to honor us by sending a representative of the government to attend our event. We have not yet received a formal notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard."
“We do not endorse the political views of Minister Ben-Gvir or those of his party. In fact, many of his previous statements and views contradict the values the European Union stands for,” the embassy said.
A spokesperson for Minister Ben-Gvir said this morning (Sunday): “The minister believes that even if EU representatives ‘do not endorse his political views,’ as they said in their statement, they understand very well that Israel is a democracy, and in a democracy different views are permitted.”
Ben-Gvir is expected to criticize the EU for funding anti-Israel initiatives and to call for greater cooperation between Israel and the EU against international terrorism.