Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar participated in Israel’s National Day Ceremony at the Israeli Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan on Thursday.
“We chose to participate in Expo 2025 despite these challenging times for our country,” said Sa’ar. “The decision to participate and present Israel to the world reflects the Jewish people’s resilience.”
Almost 270,000 people visited the Israeli Pavilion at Expo 2025 in the last month, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
The pavilion showcases Israel as a powerhouse of innovation along with its historical connection to the land, especially Jerusalem.
At the center of Israel’s national pavilion stands a stone, part of a fortified tower built by the Hasmoneans in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago. Verses from the Bible project onto the stone, while graphic simulations project onto the walls depicting how those verses and values were transformed into innovative ideas and solutions.
At the National Day ceremony, the Israeli flag was raised and the national anthem was played in the central hall.
“We stand here proudly, raising our flag and strengthening our bonds with friends around the world. The stone presented in our pavilion is a message to all those that deny the ancient connection between the Jewish people and the land of its forefathers,” said Sa’ar.
Expo 2025 takes place in Osaka this year and will run for six months, from April to October. The last time Osaka hosted a world expo was in 1970.
Sa’ar met with the Expo’s management and was hosted at the exhibition by Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Matsumoto Hisashi.
“Our exhibition highlights the deep friendship between Israel and Japan. Israel and Japan share common challenges and threats,” said Sa’ar.
The minister brought up the 58 remaining hostages still held by Hamas, and thanked Japan for calling “for the immediate release of our hostages. We will not rest until we bring all of them home.”
“Japan has its own painful experience with the issue of abductees by North Korea,” he noted. “We call, and we pray, for the release of all of the Japanese that were abducted.”
Sa’ar also hosted Lithuanian Minister of Economy and Innovation Lukas Savickas at the Israeli Pavilion.
Sa’ar arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, marking the first visit by an Israeli foreign minister to Japan in 15 years.
On Wednesday at the National Press Club in Tokyo, Sa’ar said that there would never be “two Jerusalems.”
He said there was “one truth, not two, as [there is] one sun and as there are no two Jerusalems.”
The Palestinian Authority claims eastern Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state. Israel has opposed this, stating that Jerusalem will remain undivided under Israel’s control.
When Sa’ar arrived on Tuesday, he said Israel was grateful for Japan’s “steadfast support” since Oct. 7, 2023, decrying Hamas for its refusal to disarm and return the remaining hostages it captured on that day.
He maintained that both Israel and Japan sought peace, security and stability, but said Hamas’s presence in Gaza impeded that goal.