Eighty-five-year-old atomic bombing survivor Takeko Kudo (3rd L) and other representatives observe a moment of silence at the time of the bombing at 11:02am during a peace memorial ceremony in Nagasaki. Photo by Japan Pool/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images

By Louis Keene August 7, 2024

Global dignitaries descend on Nagasaki every August to commemorate the victims of the atomic bomb. But the decision to leave Israel off the 2024 guest list has blown up the ceremony, and now the country that dropped the bomb 79 years ago won’t be showing up.

Leaders from Israel and its allies believed the decision by Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki to keep Israel out was a wrongheaded protest of the war in Gaza.

Ambassadors from the five other G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom — are following the lead of the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, in skipping Thursday’s ceremony, according to the Japanese network TBS. Lower-ranking diplomats will attend in their place.

Suzuki had suggested he might snub Israel last month, saying Israeli Ambassador Gilad Cohen’s invitation was on hold because he wanted to ensure the ceremony proceeded smoothly “in a peaceful and solemn atmosphere.” 

The other G7 envoys responded with a letter in which they objected to “placing Israel on the same level with countries such as Russia and Belarus” — the only other countries publicly excluded from the ceremony, to which some 150 countries were invited. 

In announcing his decision July 31, Suzuki stated that security concerns had arisen.

Cohen rejected that concern, telling CNN “it has nothing to do with public order” and accusing the mayor of “hijacking this ceremony for his political motivations.”

“I checked it with the relevant authorities that are responsible for public order and security, and there is no obstacle for me to go to Nagasaki,” Cohen said.

Cohen attended a similar ceremony Tuesday in Hiroshima, which was held amid protests and a petition against his invitation that garnered some 25,000 signatures.

Emanuel, who is Jewish, said he would attend a commemoration ceremony in Tokyo instead.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s self-defense is not morally equivalent,” Emanuel said in a statement.

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