According to sources in her office, the Likud asked the Attorney-General’s Office to stop Blue and White leader Benny Gantz from attending the ceremony, resulting in a decision that neither Gantz nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could attend in order to prevent the event being used for political purposes.
A spokesman for Regev did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some 300 immigrants from the Falash Mura community in Ethiopia are scheduled to arrive in Israel on Thursday, completing the first stage of Operation Rock of Israel in which the government approved 2,000 members of the community to immigrate to the Jewish state.
Both the Likud and Blue and White are vying strongly for the vote of the community, a contest which appears to be the cause of Wednesday’s political fight.
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.
