Shimon Will Bring Necklace for Michelle

By Haaretz June 8, 2012

President Shimon Peres didn’t receive his President’s Medal of Freedom last month with other award recipients – he will have his own ceremony on Wednesday, June 13, at the White House, one that will end with special performance for about 140 guests.

As protocol requires, the president will bring special gifts for his host and wife: a letter from Chaim Weizmann urging U.S. President Harry Truman to recognize the State of Israel; a short letter signed by Truman, in which he recognized Israel’s first government; and a missive from David Ben-Gurion thanking Truman for recognizing Israel’s provisional government. First Lady Michelle Obama, in addition, will receive a special necklace made from “uniquely Israeli materials” and prepared by people with disabilities.

Of course, the veteran statesman won’t cross the ocean for just one evening, memorable as that evening may be, with a pretty eventful schedule before and after the festive event. He will land in New York on Sunday, grant some interviews and have some meetings.

On Monday, he’ll move on to Washington, D.C. and meet with top Pentagon officials. On Tuesday, he will take part alongside U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a special discussion hosted by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings Institution. On Thursday, there will be more interviews and meetings with officials – as well as a special reception at the Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren’s house.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO