Israel has called back its ambassador in the Swiss capital Berne for consultations. The diplomatic snub was caused by the two-hour meeting between Swiss federal president Hans-Rudolf Merz and Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Geneva on Sunday, on the sidelines to the UN Durban Review Conference. Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman's office clarified that the move was in protest of Switzerland's approach towards "a Holocaust denier who has spoken more than once about the need to wipe Israel off the map."
Jerusalem also called in the Swiss chargée d’affaires at Switzerland’s Embassy in Tel Aviv, Monika Schmutz, to lodge an official protest.
See the WJC feature on the Durban Review Conference
