A hotel manager in Kyoto defended a policy requiring Israeli guests to declare they have not participated in war crimes before checking in.
A hotel in Kyoto, Japan, asked an Israeli tourist to sign a declaration affirming that he had not committed war crimes during his military service before allowing him to check in, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Saturday.
The tourist explained that the incident took place after he presented his Israeli passport at the hotel reception.
“The clerk handed me this form and told me that without signing it, I wouldn’t be allowed to check in,” said the man, who served as a combat medic in the Navy reserves.
According to the Israeli citizen, the form required him to declare that he had not engaged in war crimes, including rape, murder of those who had surrendered, or attacks on civilians.
Although he initially refused to sign, the man said he eventually did after the hotel clerk explained that both Israeli and Russian guests were subject to the same requirement.
A hotel in Kyoto, Japan, asked an Israeli settler tourist to sign a declaration confirming he had not committed war crimes before allowing him to check in after presenting his passport.
In response, the Israeli embassy in Japan sent a letter after one of the Israeli guests was… pic.twitter.com/imGp9OzoWe
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 27, 2025
The form stated: “I have never been involved in any war crimes in violation of international and humanitarian law, including but not limited to attacks on civilians (children, women, etc.), killing or ill-treatment of those who surrendered or were taken as prisoners of war, torture or inhuman treatment, sexual violence, forced displacement or looting, and other acts falling within the scope of Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).”
It continued: “I have never planned, ordered, aided, abetted, or incited war crimes, nor have I participated in such acts. I pledge to continue complying with international law and humanitarian law and never to engage in war crimes in any form.”
Following the incident, Israel’s Ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, sent a letter to Kyoto Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki, stating that the practice was unacceptable.
However, speaking to Yedioth Ahronoth, the hotel manager defended the policy, saying, “For us, war is a distant thing, and we have never met people who kill women and children and bomb schools.”
The paper also reported that a similar case occurred at another Kyoto hotel in June last year.
Israel is currently facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its military operations in Gaza.
In a separate development, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Ongoing Genocide
Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.
On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 51,000, wounding more than 116,000, with over 14,000 still missing.
Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.
Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.
(PC, Anadolu)
Thank you, Japan! It is a bit strange though since Japan is aligned with the US to some varying degree in the escalations against China. Maybe next we’ll read that Trump deported all Japanese-Americans because they didn’t kow-tow to the savages occupying Palestine…
The inbred rodent that calls itself an ambassador is lucky to be in Japan, considering that nuclear linked weaponry has been used recently in the Levant and possibly Syria. The insolence of both these thin skinned genocidal howlers is off the charts.
Looks as though the prefecture in Kyoto wants to distance itself from the craven sycophancy and genocide support of the garden’s caucasian ‘golden billion’.