U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice lauded Israeli President Shimon Peres at a speech today in Jerusalem. Some of the notable comments include:
“Meir Dizengoff, the founder of Tel Aviv, was once asked how does one become the Mayor of a city in Israel. He replied, “First, you build the city.” Well, the life of Shimon Peres suggests that one way to become President of the State of Israel is that, first, you build the State of Israel.
Mr. President, you helped bring Israel into being. As Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, you helped Israel grow strong, thrive, defend herself, and move toward peace. You helped forge the enduring peace treaty with Jordan and helped make historic breakthroughs with the Palestinians that still point our way ahead. And as President, you are using an amazing life’s wisdom to secure your country’s future and raise our sights toward a day when all this region’s children can live in the peace and security they so deserve.
By my count, President Peres has worked closely with 10 American Presidents, from Kennedy to Obama. So your life tracks the life of the very special relationship between our two countries. The United States and Israel share a deep and abiding friendship and an unbreakable bond, rooted in common interests and common values. We meet today at a moment of great global change, but we again affirm an essential truth that will never change: the United States of America remains fully and firmly committed to the peace and security of the State of Israel. That commitment spans generations and political parties. It is not negotiable. And it will never be negotiable.”
Rice also made comments about democracy, comments that could apply to attempted democratic reforms in the Palestinian Authority. She said:
“And finally, we must all take responsibility for advancing democracy’s cause. America believes that all citizens should have a say in how they are governed and that ordinary men and women should have confidence in the impartial administration of justice. We don’t believe that democracy can be imposed on others by force. As Senator Robert Kennedy argued with prophetic power in 1966, “Nations, like men, often march to the beat of different drummers, and the precise solutions of the United States can neither be dictated nor transplanted to others. What is important is that all nations must march toward increasing freedom; toward justice for all; toward a society strong and flexible enough to meet the demands of all its own people and a world of immense and dizzying change.” But there is nothing—nothing—relative about America’s convictions. We will always stand for the student who hungers to be taught, for the voter who demands to be heard, for the innocent who longs to be free.”
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