The EU has cancelled its diplomatic event for Europe Day in Israel because of the planned participation of the far-right minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Organisers said they did not want “to offer a platform” to someone whose views contradicted its values.
As the Israeli government’s designated representative, Mr Ben-Gvir had insisted he would give the customary speech at a ceremony on Tuesday.
In response to the decision, he accused the EU of “undiplomatic gagging”.
It is understood that the Israeli Government Secretariat put forward Mr Ben-Gvir’s name according to a rotating list of ministers selected to attend official diplomatic events and that EU ambassadors were caught by surprise.
Despite explicit requests from the EU and its prominent member states to send a minister who was not identified with the extreme right, Mr Ben-Gvir insisted that he would go.
The national security minister had stated that he would use his speech to call for a united “struggle against jihad and terrorism” while also telling EU representatives it was “inappropriate for EU countries to fund initiatives against IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers and Israeli citizens”.