The mayor of Nagasaki said on Thursday it was “unfortunate” that the US and British ambassadors had… refused to attend the ceremony [Israel was ignored]recalling the dropping of the atomic bomb on a Japanese city in 1945. He however defended the decision not to invite Israel to Friday’s annual event, reiterating that it was “not political” but to avoid potential protests related to the Gaza conflict.[1945मेंजापानीशहरपरपरमाणुबमगिराएजानेकीघटनाकोयादकरतेहुएक्योंकिइजरायलकोनजरअंदाजकियागयाथा।हालांकिउन्होंनेशुक्रवारकेवार्षिककार्यक्रममेंइजरायलकोआमंत्रितनकरनेकेफैसलेकाबचावकियाऔरदोहरायाकियह”राजनीतिकनहीं”थाबल्किगाजासंघर्षसेसंबंधितसंभावितविरोधोंसेबचनेकेलिएथा।
“It is unfortunate that they have told us that their ambassador is unable to attend,” Shiro Suzuki told reporters. “We have made a comprehensive decision, not for political reasons. We want to hold a smooth ceremony in a peaceful and solemn atmosphere.”
On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing 74,000 people, many of whom survived the blast but later died from radiation exposure.
The incident occurred three days after the first atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima that killed 140,000 people. Japan announced its surrender in World War II on August 15, 1945.
The United States, Britain, France, Italy and the European Union – as well as reportedly Canada and Australia – are all sending diplomats below ambassadorial level to the ceremony.
Only the US and British embassies explicitly linked the decision to Nagasaki, with Israeli ambassador Gilad Cohen not being invited, although a source told AFP Italy’s move was also a direct result of it.
The British embassy said Israel’s exclusion “led to an unfortunate and misleading comparison with Russia and Belarus – the other countries not invited to this year’s ceremony.”
A French embassy spokesman described Suzuki’s decision as “regrettable and questionable”, while the German embassy criticised “putting Israel on the same level as Russia and Belarus”.
Cohen, who attended a similar memorial ceremony in Hiroshima on Tuesday, said last week that the decision on Nagasaki “sends the wrong message to the world.” On Thursday, Cohen thanked “all the countries that have decided to stand with Israel and protest Israel’s exclusion from the Nagasaki peace ceremony.”
“Thank you for standing with us on the right side of history,” Cohen said on X (formerly Twitter).