(JNS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eulogized Joe Lieberman as one of the Jewish people’s “most noble sons,” speaking during a memorial service for the Connecticut senator at the Washington Hebrew Congregation synagogue in the American capital on Wednesday, July 24.
“It was important for me to be here today to express my deepest affection and respect for our beloved Joe Lieberman. I’m sure that, like all of you here, I miss Joe terribly,” Netanyahu told attendees. “He left an indelible mark on me, just as he did on everyone who had the good fortune to know him. Joe was exceptional in so many ways: He was unfaltering in his integrity, his decency, his loyalty. He was an exemplary leader who combined clear and forceful convictions with a pragmatic approach to solving problems and to solving conflict.”
He described Lieberman as “an American patriot, a proud Jew, who steadfastly stood with the Jewish people, especially during trying times.
“It is precisely during these trying times that I miss him even more,” Netanyahu continued. “I valued his unflagging friendship, in good times and in bad. He was unwavering in defending Israel and expressed his support literally up until the end of his life—literally up ’till the end of his days.”
Netanyahu noted that in the final hours of his life, Lieberman was working on the final draft of a pro-Israel statement that he had co-authored with U.S. attorney and professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz.
“His last written words, I believe, were the following: ‘We believe that Israel must be allowed to achieve its legitimate goal of disabling Hamas,’” the prime minister said, adding that Lieberman “understood what was at stake in this war was the survival of the Jewish state, and hence, the Jewish people.”
The senator and 2000 Democratic Party vice-presidential nominee, who died in March aged 82, understood, “as few do,” that the alliance between Israel and America is crucial for the future of both countries and that Jerusalem and Washington should stand together against “dangers that could threaten our common future,” most notably Iran, Netanyahu said.
