US Ambassador Boycotts Nagasaki A-Bomb Ceremony Because Israel Not Invited

US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel boycotted Friday’s memorial service in Nagasaki commemorating the 79th anniversary of the US dropping a nuclear bomb on the city because Israel was not invited to attend.

Emanuel said the ceremony had become "politicized" by the decision not to invite Israel, but Russia and Belarus will also be excluded for the third year in a row, a move supported by the US.

Envoys from the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the European Union sent a letter to Nagasaki last month saying it would "become difficult for us to have high-level participation" if Israel wasn’t invited. The envoys said the decision would equate Israel with Russia and Belarus.

Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki stuck to his decision not to invite Israel despite the pressure. He said it was due to concerns that Israeli attendance could lead to demonstrators disrupting the ceremony. "I will continue to persevere and ask for understanding of the decision as often as necessary," Suzuki said.

Suzuki said he made the decision "not for political reasons" but to ensure "a smooth ceremony in a peaceful and solemn environment."

Israel’s ambassador to Japan was invited to Hiroshima’s ceremony on Tuesday, which was attended by Emanuel and other Western ambassadors. The ambassadors of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the EU are expected to boycott the Nagasaki ceremony along with Emanuel, and the Western nations will send lower-level representatives instead.

Israeli officials have pointed to the US and allied bombings of Japan and Germany during World War II to justify the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. President Biden said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed to the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed over 200,000 Japanese civilians, in conversations they had about Gaza.

"It was pointed out to me that — by Bibi (Netanyahu) — that ‘Well, you carpet-bombed Germany. You dropped the atom bomb. A lot of civilians died,'" Biden said in December 2023.