Nagasaki on Friday held a peace ceremony marking 79 years since an atomic bomb was dropped on the city, as a political controversy saw the ambassadors from the U.S., the U.K. and Israel pay their respects about 1,200 kilometers away at a Tokyo temple.
All three envoys attended Tuesday’s ceremony in Hiroshima. But under the cloud of the Israel-Hamas war, Nagasaki, facing pressure from activists and hibakusha, opted not to extend an invitation to the Israeli ambassador, citing security concerns.
The ambassadors from the U.S., the U.K. and other Group of Seven nations said they would skip the ceremony due to Israel being left out.