Remarks at a Memorial Ceremony for Former Israeli President Shimon Peres

AS DELIVERED

Thank you so much. Thank you, colleagues, Mr. Secretary-General, Ambassador Danon, for being here and I feel very privileged to have the chance to say a few words as well. Shimon Peres was a man who spent his entire life thinking about, and working to build, the future of Israel. Speaking about his mentor – one of the founding fathers of Israel, David Ben-Gurion – President Peres once said, “From him I learned that the vision of the future should shape the agenda for the present; that one can overcome obstacles by dint of faith; that one may feel disappointment – but never despair. And above all, I learned that the wisest consideration is the moral one.” These were the principles by which Shimon Peres lived his life, and it guided his service to his country, both inside and outside of government.

“The future,” Peres recognized, “requires believers, not necessarily experts. The future is built. Not inherited from the prophets.” These are his words. Peres was always both a believer and a builder of Israel’s future. A builder of community, as a young member of Kibbutz Alumot; a builder of Israel’s Labor Party, and of Israel’s military, which allowed the newly-formed country to survive and to defend itself.

And Peres was a builder of Israel’s diplomatic relationships. We feel very blessed in the United States that one of the closest relationships he forged was with the United States. This nearly seven-decade relationship he began to build in 1950, when the 27-year-old Peres, then head of Israel’s navy, was dispatched here – to New York – on a defense supply mission. He arrived not speaking a single word of English; within three months, he was fluent. In the aspiration for freedom, he would later say – “freedom from oppression, from persecution, freedom from violence and evil, freedom from discrimination and ignorance” – Peres saw in Israel, and in democracies, and in the United States a common cause.

But most of all, Shimon Peres was a believer in and a builder of peace. His vision of what was necessary to build peace was clear and unwavering; Israel’s security, of course, which he did as much as anyone to strengthen, and Israel’s diplomacy, of which he was a maestro. But Peres believed that peace also had to be rooted in what he called moral vision, which he traced back to the Book of Books, and its “message that the one, invisible God created Man in His image, and hence there are no higher and lower orders of man.” This belief – that all fellow human beings are created equal, are imbued with fundamental dignity, and are entitled to inalienable rights – not only drove his overarching efforts to achieve peace, but also was reflected in the compassion he brought to every individual interaction. And I think this is one of the most remarkable experiences to have. When you engaged President Peres, he made you feel as if the entire world faded to black – as if time stood still. Every individual he spoke to, he spoke to like they were a prime minster or a king. That respect for people’s dignity was his signature trait.

He made it his personal duty to ensure that others – particularly the younger generations – would not feel despair. He never lost his own youth. I had the privilege of seeing President Peres in February in Israel. And he said what worried him most about the region was that so many young people had lost their hope. This, he understood, was perhaps the greatest threat to peace. And he understood that a future without the prospect of peace was a horizon without light.

In his 2014 farewell speech to the Knesset, President Peres said, “I will not give up my right to serve my people and my country. And I will continue to help build my country, with a deep belief that one day it will know peace.” Shimon Peres never gave up his right to serve his people and his country. And, to his last day, he never gave up on his belief that the greatest service to both was working to make the dream of peace a reality. He saw that the pursuit of peace was the highest form of patriotism. May his vision of Israel’s future long define Israel’s present.

Thank you.