Ahmadinejad's Participation
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the only head of state to attend the conference and hence delivered a speech on its first day. European countries had expressed fears that a commotion in regard to Israel's right to exist and the Holocaust would be raised by Ahmadinejad and some of the other delegates attending the event.
A collection of human rights groups challenged the Iranian leader at the meet, charging that religious discrimination was widespread in Iran, notably affecting Baha'is, Christians, Jews, Sufis, Sunni Muslims, and other minorities, through arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment. The human rights groups called on governments taking part in the conference, as well as the media, to hold Ahmadinejad accountable for violations in Iran.
A meeting between Ahmadinejad and Swiss President Hans-Rudolph Merz before the conference created a minor diplomatic row between Switzerland and Israel. Jerusalem recalled its ambassador to Bern "for consultations" in protest at the meet, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official explaining: "We understand the Swiss are obliged to host the conference as part of their UN commitments, we understand that the Iranian President has to be given a visa. What we don't understand is why the Swiss President greeted Ahmadinejad on arrival." Speaking at a state ceremony marking the beginning of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed a question at the Swiss president, saying "I turn to you, the Swiss president, and ask you: How can you meet someone who denies the Holocaust and wishes for a new holocaust to occur?" In response, the Swiss foreign ministry released a statement saying it "deplores the excessive language used in this context by different Israeli representatives," and summoned the Israeli representative to Bern.
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