WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Wednesday awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to Israeli President Shimon Peres. The ceremony at the White House was followed by an intimate black-tie dinner and an after-dinner reception featuring violinist Itzhak Perlman. Peres, 88, has held dozens of positions within the Israeli administration during his career, however his contemporary role is largely ceremonial. In his toast to Peres, Obama called the two-age prime minister and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize “a warrior for peace,” who “teaches us to never settle for the earth as it is.”Obama went on to praise Peres for devoting his lifetime to the causes of “peace, security and dignity, for Israelis and Palestinians and all Israel’s Arab neighbors. And much in the darkest moments, he’s never lost hope in — as he puts it — “a Middle East that is not a killing field, however a field of creativity and growth.”Glance at More…
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