Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday canceled his trip to the opening of the Olympic Games in London due to Shabbat observation.

The staff at the President's Office realized that the opening games would continue well into Friday night. But the Jewish Shabbat starts on Friday evening and ends on Saturday evening.

In Judaism, people who are observant refrain from doing any activity over the Shabbat, driving included.

Peres is not a religious person but he does not travel publicly on Shabbat. Therefore, he could not attend it without making proper sleeping arrangements.

The staff then launched the request to accommodate the president to the Olympic Games Committee. However, it refused the plea, as only athletes are allowed to stay in the Olympic village, according to the committee's regulations.

A statement from the President's office published Tuesday stated that "the president is not elevated above anyone else and if there are rules that only athletes can sleep in the Olympic village, we respect that."

No response to the cancellation was given from the Olympic organizing committee.