UK chief rabbi drops out of Israeli antisemitism conference over far-right attendees
British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has become the latest prominent figure to drop out of an Israeli government-backed conference on antisemitism after invites were given to far-right European politicians.
The event, sponsored by Israel's diaspora affairs ministry, is set to be held on 26 and 27 March in Jerusalem.
Conference invitees include Jordan Bardella, the president of the right-wing National Rally party in France, which was founded by Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen.
It also includes politicians from European far-right parties including the Sweden Democrats and Hungary's Fidesz party.
The chief rabbi's office said that he had been "made aware of the attendance of a number of far-right populist politicians" and would "no longer be attending".
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Mirvis is known in Britain to be supportive of Israel's war on Gaza and lobbied London's Metropolitan Police late last year to block a Palestine march.
His decision comes after Lord John Mann, the UK government's independent adviser on antisemitism, announced he would not attend the event, as did Germany's antisemitism czar Felix Klein and French pro-Israel writer Bernard Henri-Levy, who was set to be the keynote speaker.
'All over the political spectrum'
"Our goal was to invite friends of Israel from all over the political spectrum," a spokesperson for the Israeli diaspora ministry told The Times of Israel.
"The way to reach people with different views than yours is to meet with them and discuss your differences, not to shut them out."
But as the furore grows and more figures drop out, even Israel's president Isaac Herzog, is expected to avoid the conference - although he had previously been slated to deliver the opening speech.
The controversy comes as the Israeli government seeks to deepen its ties with far-right parties across Europe.
After several far-right parties formed the Patriots for Europe bloc in the European parliament, Israel's ruling Likud party joined it as an observer member in February.
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