Israeli envoy to Switzerland ordered to go home over anti-racism conference

Occupied Jerusalem: Israel has recalled its ambassador to Switzerland for "consultations" to protest the Swiss president's meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ahead of an anti-racism conference in Geneva.

It also summoned the head of Switzerland's diplomatic mission to Israel, Monika Schmutz-Kirgoz, for an "urgent discussion" to convey Israel's deep displeasure with the meeting on Sunday between Ahmadinejad and Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz.

"The meeting between the president of a democratic country with an infamous Holocaust-denier such as the president of Iran, who calls for Israel's destruction, does not mesh with the values that Switzerland represents and that are supposed to be represented at the UN conference on racism," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Ambassador Ilan Elgar has been ordered home for several days.