Rathenau-Prize for President Peres

President Shimon Peres, has been awarded the Walther-Rathenau-Prize. He received the prize in an award-ceremony by the Walther Rathenau Institute, held in Berlin on January, 28th..

The day before, Peres had given the key-note speech at a special session of the German Bundestag, commemorating the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

German Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Free Democrats, the German Liberal party, Guido Westerwelle, acknowledged Peres as being one of the defining figures in 20th Century foreign politics. Regarding the conflict in the Middle East, Westerwelle stressed, that he agrees with Peres in many respects. He also stated, that in the personality of President Mahmud Abbas, “Israel has a reliable partner on the Palestinian side. Now it is vital to seize the chances this constellation has to offer. Time is running and a stagnation of the peace-process is not an option.”

In his acceptance speech, Peres declared that, while being in the German capital, he does not only feel reminded of the Shoa, but he has a feeling of great friendship as well.

He commemorated Walther Rathenau as an important statesman and a German Foreign Minister during Weimar Republic. He remarked that Rathenau did not want any personal physical protection, despite threats against him as a Jewish German. Rathenau, who had become a symbol of German democracy and active foreign policy, was assassinated by German right-wing radicals on June, 24th, 1922. Peres cited Rathenau`s contemporary Albert Einstein: He declared after Rathenau’s death, that “it would have been acceptable and understandable if Rathenau had decided to stay out of politics. But he was a fighter and wanted to fulfil his duty for Germany.”