Swiss FM disappointed her gov't not invited to Israel's anniversary <br><br><br><br> - Haaretz

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Mon., May 05, 2008 Nisan 30, 5768

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		Giant Israeli flag laid out near Latrun. (Tamir Nativ)

Last update - 23:18 04/05/2008

Swiss FM disappointed her gov't not invited to Israel's anniversary

By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press

Tags: Israel, Independence Day

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has expressed disappointment that no member of her country's government is invited to attend the celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary, according to a Swiss newspaper.

Switzerland will be represented at the festivities through its ambassador in Tel Aviv, she told the weekly Sonntag, published Sunday.

"But, personally, I am disappointed that our country was not invited at
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overnment level," she was quoted as saying.

Officials at the Israeli Embassy in the Swiss capital, Bern, and at the United Nations in Geneva could not be reached for comment.

President Shimon Peres has invited heads of state, ministers, scientists, philosophers and artists for a three-day conference to mark Israel's 60th birthday this month.

Among those invited are U.S. President George W. Bush, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, former Czech President Vaclev Havel and Abdurrahman Wahid, former president of Indonesia, a country that has no diplomatic ties with Israel.

The relationship between Israel and Switzerland has been strained since a
recent visit by Calmy-Rey to Iran to witness the signing of a
multibillion-dollar natural gas supply contract between Swiss company
EGL and Iran's state-owned National Iranian Gas Export Company.

The deal prompted angry reactions from Jewish groups because Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has often called for the destruction of Israel. Alfred Donath, president of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, said that by signing the gas deal Switzerland sent the wrong message at the wrong time.

In the interview with Sonntag, Calmy-Rey defended the deal by saying every state has the right to pursue its economic interests and that Switzerland is not the only country to buy Iranian oil and gas.

She also reaffirmed Switzerland's commitment to talking to all parties in the Middle East conflict.

"Switzerland has never taken sides, neither in the Middle East conflict nor anywhere else in the world," Sonntag quoted her as saying.

Calmy-Rey has supported the so-called Geneva Accord - an alternative Middle East initiative worked out after two years of Swiss-funded secret negotiations between Israeli opposition figures and Palestinians. The deal would have mapped out borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state, but it was never officially endorsed by either side.

"As a neutral state we talk to everyone," Calmy-Rey was quoted by Sonntag as saying.

She said Switzerland would continue to condemn breaches of international humanitarian law. "Particularly Israel, with its painful history, should understand and appreciate that," she said, according to Sonntag.

In March, Switzerland was the only European member of the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council to vote in favor of a resolution condemning Israeli military action in Gaza that resulted in the death of more than 120 Palestinians, many of them civilians. The military raids were prompted by Palestinian militant groups escalating their rocket fire into Israel.

Switzerland said at the time it wanted to send a strong signal to Israel about the particular gravity of the events in the southern part of Israel and Gaza.

As Israel readies for its diamond fete, local flagmakers lose out

As Israel prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary later this week, citizens nationwide have already begun to drape their homes, public buildings and cars with the country's blue-and-white flag.

But despite this patriotic public outpouring, the Israel Manufacturers Association has said that the country's local flag makers are barely benefiting from these displays.

The association said local authorities are importing 95 percent of their flags - mainly from cut-price Chinese suppliers - and are purchasing only five percent from local manufacturers. They added that budget-conscious city and regional councils are the worst offenders.

The cost of the imports is around $870,000, or nearly NIS 3 million.

The total state budget being allotted for the diamond celebrations to take place Wednesday night and Thursday is estimated at around NIS 100 million, and there has been much debate about how that sum is being spent.

In March, for example, the Foreign Ministry complained that the Committee for Israel's 60th Independence Day Events decided not to allocate any funds for overseas events, and tried obtaining funding from other sources.

"For a long time the ministry presented proposals and plans for events abroad," said Amir Goldstein, from Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's bureau.

"We submitted budget proposals and asked for around 10 percent of the budget for the 60th Independence Day celebrations for our activities, but the committee, chaired by minister Ruhama Avraham-Balila, decided not to allocate any funds for activities abroad."

Swiss FM disappointed her gov't not invited to Israel's anniversary

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1.	Calmy-Rey has expressed disappointment...	20:06	\|	bat yam	04/05/08

2.	Does this tie in with	21:15	\|	Chris Linthwaite	04/05/08

3.	Chris Linthwaite	22:49	\|	rich	04/05/08

4.	Chris Linthwaite	23:32	\|	Philippe	04/05/08

5.	2008 or 1940s?	23:45	\|	Cpt. Jack	04/05/08

6.	we shoulda invited old dino he`da done those quotation marks	23:55	\|	x-ray	04/05/08

7.	I am	00:14	\|	wh	05/05/08

8.	Why disappointed?	00:30	\|	Axel	05/05/08

9.	# 1 bat yam, you are so wrong, Swiss-Dino is very sad.....	00:40	\|	Swiss (Dino)	05/05/08

10.	Maybe Israel is not very happy that Swizterland is doing too	00:52	\|	awesome	05/05/08

11.	# 6 x-ray	01:00	\|	Swiss (Dino)	05/05/08

12.	Sounds like "oy oy oy"	01:14	\|	Formerly Swiss	05/05/08

13.	Israel is only 60 years old	01:25	\|	Harold	05/05/08

14.	SWISS DOUBLETALK	01:37	\|	Brant	05/05/08

15.	Chris #2	01:58	\|	Louis Fried	05/05/08

16.	"switzerland has never taken sides"...just Jewish gold	02:00	\|	don	05/05/08

17.	Swiss rackateers	02:13	\|	Panther Jet	05/05/08

18.	Maybe if she didn`t support terrorists	02:22	\|	MaryRose	05/05/08

19.	The amount of anti-Swissism on this thread is absolutely.....	02:46	\|	Swiss (Dino)	05/05/08

20.	Swiss government policy has been disappointing for 75 years	02:57	\|	David	05/05/08

21.	Swiss Myth-Neutrality	03:13	\|	Mitch	05/05/08

22.	lets be honest	03:15	\|	larzbeach	05/05/08

23.	DINO AND "ANTI-SWISSISM"	03:52	\|	Brant	05/05/08

24.	Swiss Myth-Neutrality	04:05	\|	Andres	05/05/08

25.	The Swiss Ambassador Should Be Barred from All Anniversary Events	04:05	\|	Tod Zuckerman	05/05/08

26.	Calmy-Rey`s travel plans	04:11	\|	H	05/05/08

27.	And Israel was disappointed that the Swiss bankrolled Hitler	04:32	\|	Murray the Mongoose	05/05/08

28.	Invitation nightmare	04:32	\|	Avrum	05/05/08

29.	Nothing you say can compare to the level of my Antisemitism	04:50	\|	Swiss (Dino)	05/05/08

30.	#9 and #11 are poor fakes of my gentle image	04:52	\|	Swiss (Dino)	05/05/08

31.	How can anyone dare criticizing Swissness, we are above criticism	04:55	\|	Swiss (Dino)	05/05/08

32.	Switzerland Hostile towards Israel, Very antisemitic	07:02	\|	Fortunee	05/05/08

33.	She shook the hand of a Holocaust Denier	07:03	\|	Elly	05/05/08

34.	don`t like your own "medicine", Swiss	07:06	\|	x-ray	05/05/08

35.	Geneva Synogogue Arson attack	07:07	\|	Liliane	05/05/08

36.	Linthwaite breathtaking sense	07:48	\|	x-ray	05/05/08

37.	Posts # 29/# 30/ #31 are of course (rather) cheap fakes....	09:29	\|	Swiss (Dino)	05/05/08

38.	# 23 Brant	09:39	\|	Swiss (Dino)	05/05/08

39.	DINO 38	13:03	\|	Brant	05/05/08

40.	# 19 Swiss...now you know how the Israelis	14:52	\|	Lynn	05/05/08

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