Israel rescinds invitaton to Mosley

By JEREMY LAST
Israel has back tracked on an invitation to Formula One President Max Mosley for him to visit the Middle East State after Israeli Sports Minister Galeb Majadle found out about Mosley's involvement in an allegedly Nazi themed orgy last month. Majadle had met Mosley in Aman on Thursday night where the pair were intending to celebrate the start of the World Rally of Jordan. During conversations between the two Majadle invited Mosley to Israel. But once he found out about the revelations published in the British News of the World tabloid at the end of March Majadle immediately withdrew the invitation. A statement from the sports ministry, published on the Israeli Sport5 Web site, read: "The Minister, who was not at all aware of the scandal currently surrounding Mosley's name, would now like to make it clear that his invitation was not intended to be personal to Mosley himself but rather to the representative of the FIA as a global organization. "In any event, once the scandal was brought to the Minister's attention, he has requested to withdraw immediately any official invitation to Mosley until the matter is reviewed more thoroughly once back in Israel." The News of the World filmed Mosley and five prostitutes in what the paper described as "a depraved Nazi-style orgy in a torture dungeon." According to the newspaper, the video showed the 67-year-old Mosley as he "barks orders in German, as he lashes girls wearing mock death camp uniforms and enjoys being whipped until he bleeds." Mosley, the son of English fascist politician Oswald Mosley, denied there was any Nazi connotations to the sex session and has launched legal proceedings against the News of the World for invasion of privacy. The FIA (Federation Internationale d'Automobile), which Mosley heads, released a statement on Friday regarding the invitation. "The FIA is grateful to Galeb Majadle, the Israeli Minister for Science, Culture and Sport for extending the FIA an invitation to visit Israel. The FIA is delighted with the recent legalization of motor sport in the country and intends to offer the Minister every assistance in what promises to be a major addition to motor sport in the region," the statement read. "The FIA understands the circumstances under which the Minister's invitation has now been withdrawn." Mosley told the FIA Web site he fully understands "the Minister's position," and used the opportunity to state his case against the News of the Word, saying that he looks forward "to resuming contact with him [Majadle] when the News of the World's deliberate and calculated lies have been comprehensively refuted."