An Israeli-American political cartoonist secretly passed a request from Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres to Japanese counterpart Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1985 to get more involved in the Middle East peace process, according to Japanese diplomatic records declassified Wednesday.
But Nakasone decided to turn down the request, deeming it too risky to center Japanese foreign policy on personal ties with Peres.
Japan feared protests from the surrounding Arab countries, with which it had built deep ties through the purchase of oil.