The Israeli ambassador to Japan will not be invited to Nagasaki's annual peace ceremony, the city's mayor said Wednesday, adding the decision was taken to avoid unexpected trouble and was not politically motivated.
The city last month invited dozens of countries and territories to the Aug. 9 event on the anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombing in 1945.
Nagasaki mayor Shiro Suzuki told reporters the decision was "not politically motivated" but based on a desire to "hold the ceremony in a peaceful and somber atmosphere."