Today, Thursday, Israelis mourned American diplomat Henry Kissinger, who died yesterday, Wednesday, in the state of Connecticut, at the age of 100, which saw him receive the “Nobel Peace Prize” in an incident that sparked great controversy.
Kissinger served as National Security Advisor and US Secretary of State in the 1970s, during the era of American Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and Israelis see him as a giant of American diplomacy who served Israel in twentieth century, as reported by the Arab World News Agency.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that Kissinger, the first Jewish American secretary of state, is one of the greatest diplomats of all time.
The Israeli president added in a statement: “The Jewish teenager, who fled the Nazis in Germany, turned into a giant who helped shape world politics with his hands and his mind.”
He continued, “Israel still enjoys the fruits of the Kissinger-led operations today, including the creation of the basis for the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.”
Kissinger served as National Security Advisor to the United States from 1969 to 1975 and as Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977.
Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, shared with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam, who refused the prize. Two members of the Nobel Committee resigned after awarding the prize to Kissinger following reports of a secret American bombing of Cambodia, and critics also described him as a war criminal. For his role in supporting anti-communist regimes.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said of him: “In his position, Kissinger pursued a sober and realistic policy and concentrated his efforts on creating a system of alliances that would weaken the Soviet Union.”
Kissinger assumed the position of Secretary of State in the US administration, two weeks before the outbreak of the October 6, 1973 war, in which the Egyptian and Syrian armies attacked Israel to regain lands that the Israelis had occupied in the June 1967 war.
Kissinger’s diplomatic career ended after the Republican Party lost the election and the election of Jimmy Carter as President of the United States in late 1976.