US Envoy to Skip Nagasaki Bombing Memorial Over ‘Political’ Snub of Israel’s Envoy
(Bloomberg) -- US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel won’t be attending ceremonies to mark the Aug. 9 atomic bombing of Nagasaki over what he called a “political” decision by the city’s mayor not to invite Israel’s envoy.
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Emanuel said in a letter sent to Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki and seen by Bloomberg on Thursday that he can’t “in good conscience” attend the event as he’s done previously and the US would be represented at a lower diplomatic level.
“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,” Emanuel wrote in the letter dated Monday.
In June, Suzuki said he wouldn’t be extending an invitation to Israel’s ambassador and called on the country to accept an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the Asahi newspaper and other Japanese media reported. Nagasaki’s mayor told reporters this week the decision to exclude the Israeli envoy wasn’t political and was instead done out of worries that unforeseen circumstances such as protests could disrupt the ceremony.
Emanuel said the Nagasaki mayor could still call for a cease-fire and allow Israel’s ambassador to attend as a member of the diplomatic community, as happened at the Aug. 6 ceremony to mark the atomic bombing of Hiroshima — which the US envoy attended.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida participated in the ceremony in Hiroshima this week and is scheduled to be at the event in Nagasaki on Friday.
“The prime minister would not be attending if there was a security threat, or challenge,” Emanuel said.
Officials at Israel’s embassy in Tokyo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
G-7 Ultimatum
Last month, international envoys from the Group of Seven nations dispatched to Japan and the European Union sent a letter to Suzuki, saying it would be difficult for them to have high-level participation in the event if Israel were to be excluded.
“Not inviting Israel to the commemoration of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki city would result in placing Israel on the same level as countries such as Russia and Belarus, who are the only other countries not invited to this ceremony,” according to a copy of the letter seen by Bloomberg.
Emanuel pointed out that Russia invaded Ukraine, while Israel was attacked. “So, then if it’s political, you can’t draw a moral equivalency between Russia that invaded Ukraine and Israel that was invaded,” he said.
Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US ad EU, killed 1,200 in its Oct. 7 attack and abducted 250 in one of the deadliest days for Israel since the state was founded.
In the months of fighting that followed, large parts of Gaza has been reduced to rubble and some 40,000 people killed in the process, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel has also found itself in greater international isolation as the death toll mounted.
The Biden administration has pressed for months for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas, trying to prevent a wider conflict that could engulf the Middle Easts.
The anniversary ceremonies for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 are solemn events to remember those who perished in the blasts, with the diplomatic community in Japan typically in attendance. The events are marked by calls to never have another atomic bombing, seek an end to nuclear weapons and work to bring peace.
Japan lists the US as its sole security ally, and the government in Tokyo tried to avoid weighing in publicly on the matter. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular news briefing Thursday that the ceremony is hosted by Nagasaki and the government isn’t in a position to comment on attendance.
Kishida, a Hiroshima native, made it a point for world leaders attending the 2023 Group of Seven summit in the city to visit a museum that recounts what happened when it was hit by an atomic bomb.
Emanuel said in an interview he will pay homage to what happened in Nagasaki at a temple and there will be a moment of silence at the embassy and consulates for the time of the bombing.
“We will pay respect, reverence and remembrance,” he said.
--With assistance from Takashi Hirokawa.
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