Ehud Olmert’s Cabinet honored the memory of the late Tom Lantos.
The Israeli prime minister told his Cabinet on Sunday that Lantos, who died of cancer last week at the age of 80, had not lived long enough to enjoy a planned honor ceremony from the Jewish state which he labored so long to help.
“Throughout his career, he worked out of an abiding faith that U.S. strategic interests were connected to the strength, security and prosperity of the State of Israel. He gave daring, assertive and pointed expression to this throughout his Congressional career, in which he assisted the State of Israel,” Olmert said in broadcast remarks.
“As an expression of the State of Israel’s deep friendship and appreciation for Tom Lantos, I had intended to propose that the government express to him its special and exceptional appreciation, and I even managed to tell him this before he passed away, a few days ahead of his eightieth birthday, which he was due to celebrate now. “
Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, served for three decades in the U.S. Congress.
