Senator John Kerry to President Shimon Peres: "I can assure you and the people of Israel that President Obama is committed to preventing Iran from nuclear weapons."

Israeli President Shimon Peres met with Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry, where the two discussed the latest developments in the Iranian nuclear issue, the changes in the Middle East and political relations between Israel and its neighbors and especially the peace process with the Palestinians.

In his introduction, President Peres said of his guest: "We must continue to work together on one with most countries to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran is a threat to the entire world and not only Israel." President Peres welcomed the President's commitment in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. 

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The Heads of MASHAV and of USAID signed in Washington, April 18, a Memorandum of Understanding to increase cooperation on food security to Africa, within the framework of USAID’s “Feed the Future” Initiative. The MOU allows for closer cooperation on the issue of food security in four countries: Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Feed the Future strives to increase agricultural production and the incomes of both men and women in rural areas who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. MASHAV’s cooperation includes its proven agricultural expertise in applied agricultural research, irrigation and water technologies, and agricultural production in arid zones. Emphasis will be given to gender issues, training and human capacity building, and adaptation to climate change.

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Remarks on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day
U.S. Capitol Rotunda

April 19, 2012

The legacy of the Holocaust endows us with a double duty. First, we must not allow the memory of the six million to be trivialized. Human history is rife with atrocities, massacres, and wars, but nothing be equated with the enormity of the Holocaust. It is profoundly, unbearably,unique. But, paradoxically, our second duty is to prevent another Holocaust from occurring.

Imagine if one third of the Jewish people had not been annihilated. Imagine the doctors, the researchers, and the artists. Imagine the grandchildren and great-grandchildren flourishing throughout the world today. That is what we mean when we pledge ‘Never Again.’

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April 18, 2012

"On my way here, the glowing lights of Jerusalem were suddenly replaced by the sparks of fire which once consumed my people. This is us. This is our people, a people of illumination, an orphan people. This is us. Holocaust survivors, builders of resurgence, my brothers and sisters, tonight our tearing eyes turn to those who are not here with us, and our wide opened eyes gaze upon the yet to come.

During the holidays I travelled all over the country. Blue skies, blooming fields, lovely children, hard-working people. I wondered about the communities they originated from which are no longer. For a moment, I replaced Tel Aviv with Vilna, Haifa with Bialystok, Dgania, Nahalal, Beer-Sheva with Plonsk, Riga, Odessa.

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Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah in Hebrew) is a national day of commemoration in Israel, on which the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust are memorialised. It is a solemn day, beginning at sunset on the 27th of the month of Nisan (April 18, 2012) and ending the following evening, according to the traditional Jewish custom of marking a day. Places of entertainment are closed and memorial ceremonies are held throughout the country.

The central ceremonies, in the evening and the following morning, are held at Yad Vashem and are broadcast on the television. Marking the start of the day – in the presence of the President of the State of Israel and the Prime Minister, dignitaries, survivors, children of survivors and their families, gather together with the general public to take part in the memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem in which six torches, representing the six million murdered Jews, are lit.

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