Israeli President Shimon Peres conferred Israel’s highest honour on former US President Bill Clinton Wednesday, in recognition of 2one of the greatest friends known to Israel and the Jewish people”. Awarding America’s 42nd President with the Presidential Medal of Distinction on the first full day of his fifth annual Israeli Presidential Conference, Peres insisted that he did so on behalf “of the entire people of Israel”.
“Your unwavering commitment to the Jewish People and your moving support for Israel will always be cherished by each and every one of us,” he continued, as he heralded his widely-reported efforts to bring peace to the region with his “gift” of the two-state solution, still the most widely-backed peace initiative on the global stage.
The “modest gesture” in acknowledgement of Clinton’s well-documented support of the Jewish State throughout his two terms in office and in the aftermath of his presidency has previously been awarded to current US President Barack Obama, as well as former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. According to Peres’ office, Israel’s highest civilian award allows “the President of Israel to express his appreciation and esteem, on behalf of the Israeli people, to deserving individuals, and to motivate others to contribute their talents and activities for the well-being of Israel and for the sake of Tikkun Olam, putting the world to rights”.
Accepting the honour, Clinton acknowledged that “there are no perfect solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”, with the only achievable goal being “to expand the definition of ‘us’ and shrink the definition of ‘them’”. “We cannot escape (the) consequences of what others do or what we do. There is a constant struggle for Tikkun Olam,” he added, to a standing ovation from a packed audience.
The decision to confer the honour on Clinton this year is especially poignant, as it coincides with the 90th birthday of his longtime ally and former counterpart Peres. The previous evening, at a ceremony honouring the landmark birthday at the start of the three day conference, the former US President honoured Peres at “the world’s social Einstein”.
In the presence of a plethora of high-profile invitees, with a guest list featuring Barbra Streisand, Sharon Stone, Robert De Niro and Prince Albert of Monaco, Clinton praised his lifelong mission “to unite politic and philosophy and psychology and history and science and technology”. “Every one of us who has been blessed enough to know you… has been made a little bigger, a little stronger, and a little more optimistic that one day your theory will be real,” he added, as he honoured his “great gift to us all”.
Also paying tribute to the world-renowned statesman was former British Premier and serving Mid East Quartet envoy Tony Blair, who emphasised his politically transcendent role in Israeli society, by telling the crowd: “We have our Queen, and you have your Shimon.”
Making her first public performance in the Jewish State, acclaimed Jewish American singer Streisand sang the Hebrew prayer Avinu Malkeinu, by special request from Peres himself, before Israeli singers Eyal Golan and Shlomo Artzi similarly took to the stage. Peres expressed his gratitude for Streisand’s attendance, after she pulled out of a previous planned performance for Israel’s 60t birthday in 2008 citing “personal obligations”, insisting it was “worth waiting 90 years to hear such a heavenly voice”.
Video tributes were also streamed at the ceremony from world leaders including Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.