Switzerland's participation in Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations will be limited to its being represented by the country's ambassador and without an invitation to the Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey. "Personally, I am disappointed that our country was not invited at the government level," she was quoted by the Swiss weekly Sonntag.
Israel has invited numerous heads of state, academics and artists for a three-day event marking the 60th year since the re-establishment of the Jewish state. Relations between Switzerland and Israel have cooled since its recent agreement on a huge natural gas deal with Iran. Switzerland also was the only European country in the United Nations Human Rights Council to back a recent resolution condemning Israel for counterterrorist operations that killed Gaza terrorists and several civilians, who often are used as human shields by terrorists.