Ambassadors from the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as several other western nations, including France, Germany, Italy, Australia and Canada, are all set to skip the Nagasaki peace ceremony on Friday because Israel hasn’t been invited. Those nations are expected to send lower-ranking envoys instead. The ceremony marks the 79th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. The city’s mayor, Shiro Suzuki, announced last week that there would be no representative from Israel at the event. He said it was due to concerns over security risks and possible disruptions.
Israel Snub ‘Not Based on Political Judgment’ Says Mayor
It was “not,” he said, “based on political judgment, but an intention to conduct the ceremony to console the atomic bomb victims in a peaceful and solemn manner.” Unsurprisingly, Gilad Cohen, Israel’s ambassador to Japan, disagreed with the decision. “There is no comparison between Israel, which is being brutally attacked by terrorist organizations, and any other conflict, any attempt to present it otherwise distorts the reality,” he wrote in a statement that was posted on social media.
Last month, the envoys of Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and the European Union sent a letter to Nagasaki saying “it would become difficult for us to have high-level participation” in the event if Israel was excluded.
Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, will honor the victims of the Nagasaki bombing at a ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo. In a letter sent to Mayor Suzuki, he wrote, “I believe your decision is a political one and has nothing to do with the security and safety of the event, especially in light of the caliber of attendees. I am also confident you are aware that I will not be the only ambassador not attending this year’s ceremony in Nagasaki for similar reasons and concerns.”
Hiroshima Peace Memorial | Image by Zaru Rosario via Shutterstock
Israel’s Ambassador Attends Hiroshima Ceremony
Cohen was invited to the peace ceremony in Hiroshima on Tuesday. The NHK camera focused on him as Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki spoke about conflicts around the globe. “At present we still see wars in various parts of the world,” he said. “The strong defeat the weak. The weak are trampled down… Great powers, which are expected to protect international order established by the United Nations, overtly attempt to invade other countries by violating international laws and changing the status quo by force. This is the reality that humans have continued to see since the prehistoric age.”
Russia and Belarus were barred from attending the event for a third consecutive year due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
