Ronald Lauder Wins France’s Highest Honor
Ronald Lauder Image by getty images
France’s President François Hollande decorated World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder with the order of officer the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France.
Ronald Lauder Image by getty images
Hollande called Lauder “a man of peace, of culture and of commitment” during the Feb. 6 ceremony at the Elysée Palace in Paris.
“You travel the world, and you convey the message of tolerance and peace. You have the ear of Jewish communities who are in need of support, leadership and values in a world of menaces, a world where old hatreds are resurfacing that we thought had disappeared long ago,” Hollande said.
“With you, France honors a man of peace, of culture and of commitment. The cause you serve is to preserve the memory in order to build the future,” Hollande concluded.
Lauder called on France to support an initiative to put Hezbollah on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations, following the evidence presented by Bulgaria earlier this week that the Lebanese Shiite movement was involved in the Burgas bombing of Israeli tourists in July 2012. Hollande said in response that France would study the evidence assembled by the Bulgarian investigators before making any decision.
The French president also told Lauder that Iran was not the problem of Israel alone but of the whole world.
Lauder has served as president of the World Jewish Congress, representing Jewish communities in 100 countries, since 2007.
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 need 500 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
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
