The late Senator Joe Lieberman was a strong supporter of Israel who well understood the existential threat Hamas and Iran pose to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday morning at a special memorial service for the revered veteran of US politics.
“I am sure that like all of you here, I miss Joe terribly,” Netanyahu said as he stood on the podium at a Reform temple in the city, Washington Hebrew Congregation.
Lieberman “left an indelible mark on me, just as he did on everyone who had the good fortune to know him. He was exceptional in so many ways. He was unfaltering in his integrity, his decency and loyalty,” Netanyahu said.
“He was an American patriot and a proud Jew,” Netanyahu said. What struck him in particular was his moral clarity and courage, he added.
Lieberman was “unwavering in his support of Israel” and hours before his passing he co-wrote a statement in support of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza together with attorney and author Alan Dershowitz.
Netanyahu said that Lieberman was acutely aware of the extent to which Iran posed a regional and global threat.
The prime minister received a few laughs when he said that he had to “cut his remarks short” because “I have a speech to write,” a reference to his much anticipated address to a joint session of Congress later in the day.
Lieberman's Jewishness
The service was organized by the NGO No Labels, months before Netanyahu’s trip was planned.
Al Gore was the first politician to speak. Lieberman, who passed away in March, represented Connecticut in the Senate from 1989-2013 and was Gore’s running mate in 2000 on the Democratic ticket which narrowly conceded the election to George W. Bush. Lieberman is the only Jewish politician ever to have contended for the vice presidency.
Gore recalled that he first met Lieberman when he was attorney general of Connecticut and found they shared many views in common on protecting the environment and human rights.
Sometimes “we were some of the only ones” that took a stand on certain issues.
Gore recalled how had been a “Shabbos goy” for Lieberman and when voting ran late on a Friday, he would bring him to an apartment his parents had nearby in a Methodist building, turning on the lights for him so he could stay there.
“We laughed together, we prayed together and we thought for a season that we had won together,” Gore said.He even learned Yiddish words from him, including the term mensch, which Gore said so well described the man that Lieberman was.
“I thought of those days a lot. We both knew, deep down that the strong foundation of our friendship, and the values we shared, was so much stronger than what drove us apart.”
Gore said he has thought of him frequently since his death and what stands out is the way that his Jewish faith was “so foundational to the purpose with which he lived his life.”
“I have spent some time trying to capture that in my own words and ultimately found that he said it better than I possibly could,” Gore said.
What Gore found in looking back at Lieberman’s writing was that the Connecticut Senator had summed it up in the concept of Tikkun Olam, which, he said, “presumes the inherent but unfulfilled goodness” of people.
Lieberman had said “Today we can see with our own eyes what global warming is doing” and that failing to take action was immoral, Gore recalled.
Just two years ago Lieberman spoke of the urgent need for bipartisanship on the climate crisis, Gore said. “Today to remember him is to refresh our hope and our dedication to Tikkun Olam.”
Lieberman listed himself in his last terms in the Senate as an Independent Democrat and made a failed run for the presidency in 2004.
He was popular among US politicians on both sides of the aisle, shown by the attendance at his memorial of democratic and republican members of Congress, including former vice president Mike Pence.
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew attended the ceremony, as did members of Netanyahu’s entourage, including National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs.