Shultz Renews America’s Pledge to Always Stand by and Support Israel

Secretary of State George Shultz solemnly renewed America’s pledge to always stand by and support Israel, in a moving speech at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial here Friday during ceremonies marking the 40th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The American people will never again appease tyranny or let the Jewish people stand alone against persecution, Shultz said. America’s support for Israel was its way of ensuring that a Holocaust can never recur.

“The very fact that this memorial to the Holocaust victims stands here in Israel is a symbol of hope. It reminds us that from the abyss of Jewish suffering at the Nazis’ hands, there re-emerged the Jewish State, a haven, finally, after centuries of anti-Semitic persecution. The birth of Israel was a re-birth of hope, and not only for Jews, but for all people everywhere,” Shultz said.

The Secretary of State arrived here Friday for a two-day visit, the chief purpose of which was to participate in Israel’s observance of the destruction of the Third Reich four decades ago by the United States and its allies. His visit also had a political dimension and was an occasion for discussions of Israel’s economic situation. (See separate story)

But the Yad Vashem ceremonies with which it began was clearly the highlight. It assumed special significance in that Shultz’s obviously deeply felt remarks were delivered only five days after President Reagan placed a wreath at the military cemetery in Bitburg West Germany where members of the notorious Waffen SS are buried along with other German war dead.

That act by Reagan outraged, angered and anguished Israelis and Jews the world over for its symbolic if unintended honor to the worst Nazi killers and the President’s apparent misreading of the meaning of the Holocaust.

Shultz made no reference to the Bitburg episode. But Yad Vashem director Yitzhak Arad, in his address, spoke frankly of the “pain” it caused Israel. “We believe there can never be a reconciliation with the criminal acts of the SS, the murderers of millions of innocent people, Jews and non-Jews,” Arad declared.

Shultz acknowledged that for people living far from Israel, the memory of the Holocaust may perhaps be growing dim. The Yad Vashem memorial, he said, was the true witness to the Holocaust and the symbol of the victory of the human spirit over evil.

“That is why Israel must endure,” the Secretary of State said,” and that is why the American people are committed to Israel’s security. After the Holocaust, the American people, and decent men and women around the world, made a solemn pledge: Never again. Never again would we fail to confront evil. Never again would we appease the aggressor. Never again would we let the Jewish people stand alone to face persecution and aggression.”

He continued: “Today we honor that pledge when we, with the people of Israel, reach out to help save Ethiopian Jewry. We honor that pledge when we work tirelessly to help Soviet Jewry — and other minorities — against the Soviet regime’s systematic persecution. We honor that pledge when we pursue and prosecute Nazi war criminals — no matter how long it takes.”

Shultz added: “Above all, we honor our pledge by remembering, by teaching our children the story of the six million Jews, by establishing the Holocaust Memorial Commission in the United States, by coming here to the Yad Vashem.”