An ugly political spat erupted on Wednesday between Blue and White and the Likud over the scheduled welcoming ceremony for 300 Ethiopian immigrants, and the event was canceled by Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata.
According to sources in Tamano-Shata’s office, Transportation Minister Miri Regev demanded that the attorney-general bar Blue and White leader Benny Gantz from attending the ceremony, and Gantz announced that he would not participate.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then decided that he would attend, the sources said, and this led Tamano-Shata to cancel the festive welcoming ceremony.
Tamano-Shata’s office said subsequently that she and Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog would greet the immigrants on their arrival, but that there would be no speeches or a formal ceremony.
The Attorney-General’s Office said after Tamano-Shata’s announcement that it was still reviewing the issue and had not made a final decision.
“The attorney-general has not issued any instructions on this matter,” his office said, adding that a decision would be made “according to the legal criteria determined by law, with an emphasis on the ruling of the Central Elections Committee chairman.”
A spokesman for Regev did not respond to a request for comment.
Some 300 immigrants from the Falash Mura community in Ethiopia are scheduled to arrive on Thursday, completing “Operation Rock of Israel” in which the government allowed 2,000 members of the community to immigrate.
Both the Likud and Blue and White are vying strongly for the community’s vote, a contest that appears to be the cause of Wednesday’s quarrel.
Earlier, Gantz had said that the arrival of the new immigrants should not be turned into a political “circus,” which he accused Netanyahu of doing by sending Regev.
He added that Blue and White would demand that the remainder of the Falash Mura community still in Ethiopia be brought to Israel in any coalition agreement it signs after the election.
On February 20 last year, just two weeks before the March election, Netanyahu met with Ethiopian religious leaders, families and activists and promised he would bring all remaining members of the community to Israel, while the Likud Party itself stated explicitly on February 14 that all members of the Falash Mura community, then some 7,500 people, would be brought to Israel by the end of 2020.
Activists for the Falash Mura community have strongly criticized Netanyahu, however, for failing to fulfill that promise, as several thousand community members are still waiting in Addis Ababa and Gondar to come to Israel.