Peres: Israel Owes Obama ‘Deepest Thanks’
Israel owes its “deepest thanks” to President Obama, Israeli President Shimon Peres said, culminating a visit that included receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Obama “did more than he promised, contrary to what has been said, there was no request he didn’t take into consideration,” Peres said Thursday at a reception in his honor at the residence of Ambassador Michael Oren, a day after Obama conferred upon Peres the Medal of Freedom.
It was not the first time that Peres, whose office carries limited powers and is mostly diplomatic in function, has signaled his frustration with tensions between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Peres described Obama as “unique” in his qualification for the presidency.
“He was the tough Harvard editor of the Law Review, who must be precise and strong and unforgiving” and also “the community leader who has all the time for the people, for their mistakes,” Peres said of Obama. “He is the greatest representative of a new age.”
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.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
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 the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
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
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
