Nagasaki Mayor’s immoral decision debases memory of innocent Japanese, Israelis - opinion

In his decision not to invite the Israeli ambassador to Japan to the yearly ceremony commemorating the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki debased the memory of countless innocent victims. His decision was an insult both to the innocent Japanese who perished that day in 1945 and to the 1,200 Israelis mass murdered on October 7, 2023, by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists—the largest single-day killing of Jews since the Nazi Holocaust.

This decision denies the opportunity to properly memorialize those who died in the 1945 bombing. It also emboldens terrorists everywhere to believe that mass violence works to advance their agendas of isolating Israel and the Jewish people from the world community.

It bears mentioning that Israel—as a friend of Japan and as a sister democracy—has for many years attended this annual event in Nagasaki to remember and honor the Japanese victims and their families.

In a statement on July 31, Mayor Suzuki said that his decision was not political in nature but was intended to ensure that the August 9 ceremony would be free of disturbances. That statement is both a bald-faced lie and an act of antisemitism. It holds the State of Israel and the Jewish people to a different and unfair standard not applied to other governments and nationalities.

This singling out of Israel demonstrates the mayor’s remarkable historical illiteracy and sets back decades of efforts to build positive relations between Japan, Israel, and world Jewry. Adding insult to injury, Mayor Suzuki invited a Palestinian representative to attend even as 115 innocent hostages are still held in terror tunnels beneath Gaza by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Double standard

Mayor Suzuki’s decision will not escape the notice of autocrats and evildoers. His double standard toward Israel will invigorate more murderers and villains worldwide to conclude that the use of force and delegitimization campaigns is necessary to achieve their aims.

The atomic bombing of Nagasaki helped finally end World War II, a war which saw Imperial Japan allied with Nazi Germany. For decades, people of goodwill from Japan, the US, and world Jewry have labored to forge new friendships, alliances, and trust, as we all struggled to absorb difficult lessons from the past.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui rightly invited the Israeli ambassador to attend his city’s yearly atomic bombing commemoration, but the Nagasaki mayor’s insulting refusal has harmed that trust.

The decision by Nagasaki Mayor Suzuki cheapens and demeans the important lessons that his city has rightly been teaching for generations. It also demonizes Israel’s moral obligation to defend its citizens, an ongoing struggle that continues on multiple fronts to this day.

Would Mayor Suzuki maintain his luxury political views—typically held by extreme activists and ivory tower academics—if his beautiful city were repeatedly attacked by Japan’s regional adversaries in 2024? We think not.

Mayor Suzuki has refused to reverse his decision. He seems oblivious to the damage he has done to the dead and the living. But when he opens the event, he will not be able to avoid the many empty seats of important invitees: The ambassadors of all G7 and EU countries, led by the United States, have decided not to attend.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper is the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Kinue Tokudome and Dr. Ted Gover serve as advisers to the center.