Almost half a century after his death, Winston
Churchill was honored in Jerusalem
on Sunday with a statue and a tribute proclaiming him a friend of the Jewish
people and the Zionist cause.
The British Ambassador to Israel, Matthew
Gould said that the statue "corrects a small historic injustice. In Israel he's not honored enough; his
story is not told enough."
The project was the brainchild of Anthony
Rosenfelder, a trustee of the Jerusalem Foundation in the United Kingdom,
and Member of Knesset Isaac Herzog, after both read Sir Martin Gilbert's book
"Churchill and the Jews"
"The book laid out in crystal
clear form that Churchill throughout his life was a passionate believer in the
cause of Zionism," said Rosenfelder.
Mayor Nir Barkat, who attended the
ceremony said Churchill captured the Israeli ethos when he said, "If you
have enemies, good, it means that you have stood up for something in your
life".
"The world is yearning for
strong leadership and moral clarity; someone who knows the difference between
good and bad," said Member of Knesset Isaac Herzog, who was also instrumental
in the statue's commission.
The ceremony was attended by the
former prime minister's great grandson, Randolph Churchill who was visiting Israel for the
first time. "This means a huge amount to our family," he said.
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