Serenaded by a U.S. Marine band and flanked by an armed forces honor guard, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin accepted the 1994 Ronald Reagan Freedom Award and pledged to pursue peace while at the same time fighting the enemies of peace.
The Nov. 16 ceremony took place on the first day of Rabin’s recent visit to the United States.
More than 400 persons attended the evening dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where Rabin received the award. Each paid $1,250 to support the Ronald Reagan Library and Center for Public Affairs.
Rabin paid a warm tribute to the ex-president, who announced 10 days ago that he was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. In his absence, his wife Nancy and California Gov. Pete Wilson conferred the award on the Israeli leader.
Both Rabin and Reagan were lauded in person by Gamel Sadat, son of Egypt’s late President Anwar Sadat, and via video by his mother, Jihan Sadat, the late president’s widow.
Earlier on his one-day visit here, Rabin did lunch with the cream of Hollywood executives and creative talent.
The private entertainment industry luncheon at Morton’s, a fashionable West Hollywood restaurant, was hosted by record mogul David Geffen and was attended by studio chiefs Lew Wasserman, Sidney Sheinberg, Frank Mancuso and Sherry Lansing.
Among the screen and television stars in attendance were Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Michael Douglas, Richard Dreyfuss, Jay Leno, Leonard Nimoy, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Henry Winkler.
Detailing some of the milestones in the Middle East peace process, Rabin suggested to the film crowd that his real-life negotiations contained more cliffhangers than most Hollywood thrillers.
Asked afterward by a reporter what was the latest movie he hand seen, Rabin searched his memory and said it was “Schindler’s List.”
To a follow-up question as to who was his favorite film star, Rabin shook his head and responded, “You don’t expect me to answer that.”
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