Netanyahu, Gore and bipartisan group of dignitaries remember the late Sen. Joe Lieberman at memorial service
“America has lost one of its finest public servants,” Netanyahu said. “The Jewish people have lost one of its most noble sons”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a memorial for Sen. Joe Lieberman on July 24 in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of No Labels
By Jacob Kornbluh July 24, 2024
Jacob Kornbluh attended the memorial service for the late Sen. Joe Lieberman at the Washington Hebrew Congregation in D.C. on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid a highly contentious political season and as the U.S. witnesses history unfold in the presidential race, a number of high-profile Democrats and Republicans gathered on Wednesday morning at a synagogue to remember a man who both made history and valued bipartisanship.
Four months after the death of Joe Lieberman, the longtime Connecticut senator and Vice President Al Gore’s running mate in the 2000 presidential election, more than 200 dignitaries, senior government officials, and members of Congress gathered at the Washington Hebrew Congregation in D.C. to pay tribute to his memory.
Sitting alongside one another were former Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and senators from both sides of the aisle.
“There’s been talk recently about Venn diagrams in our country,” Gore quipped, referencing one of Vice President Kamala Harris’ signature lines that has become the subject of online memes. “I think the thinnest overlay of the Venn diagram between Democrats and Republicans is right there where Joe Lieberman is.”
Gore said that when he became friends with Lieberman after picking him as his running mate, he learned from him “a few words in Yiddish,” though he was already familiar with the term “mensch.” “But I did not know its full meaning until I got to be a good friend of Joe Lieberman,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in town to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress, peppered his speech with some dry humor. He joked that the Lieberman family has grown “expeditiously” since he saw them last. “That’s bringing the mitzvah of pru u’rvu, multiplied,” he said, referring to the first commandment in the Bible to have children.
Netanyahu, who first met Lieberman in the 1980s, said he misses the former senator during these trying times. He noted that in the days before his death, Lieberman co authored- a satement with Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz which highlighted the need for bipartisan support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. The statement, published after his death in The Wall Street Journal, also warned President Joe Biden that “pro-Israel voters have alternatives to simply staying home” amid criticism by the administration over Israel’s military campaign.
Both speakers, in their brief remarks, then shifted to their usual talking points. Gore addressed climate issues, while Netanyahu focused on Iran, not before reminding the crowd that he needed to return to his hotel to put the final touches to his speech to Congress.
“America has lost one of its finest public servants,” Netanyahu said. “The Jewish people have lost one of its most noble sons, Israel has lost one of its greatest champions and I have lost a beloved friend and an irreplaceable comrade in arms.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
