By Whitney Ransom
A suicide bombing that killed nine Israelis leaving synagogues Sat., March 2, has forced Jerusalem?s mayor to cancel a scheduled visit to BYU, school officials said.
Mayor Ehud Olmert, already in the U.S. on other business, cut short his trip and returned home after the Saturday attack in an orthodox Jewish neighborhood.
Olmert was scheduled to lecture Tues., March 5, in the de Jong Concert Hall, said Erlend Peterson, BYU?s associate international vice president.
?He felt that he needed to return immediately, indicating that he was sorry,? Peterson said. ?His focus needs to be with his people.?
The lecture ? in which Olmert was to present the Israeli perspective on the Mideast conflict ? has not been rescheduled, BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said.
Olmert has scheduled a short stay in Utah, and BYU officials hurried to secure a special lecture to bring him to Provo, Peterson said.
The lecture was announced in a Thursday email.
