Italy Honors AJC's David Harris

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Jul 11, 2011, 12:06 ET

ROME, July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini decorated AJC Executive Director David Harris with the Ufficiale dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Italian capital.

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Before an audience that included Israeli Ambassador to Italy Gideon Meir, members of Parliament, and the President of the Italian Jewish community, Frattini bestowed the honor, which recognizes Harris as a "privileged partner for deepening the dialogue between the Jewish community and Italian institutions."

At the ceremony, Frattini called Harris, "a personal friend, as well as a friend of Italy," lauding his "absolute commitment to peace and reconciliation in the Middle East."

Harris spoke to those assembled saying, "I'm honored to receive this award, all the more so from Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, a leader for whom I have the highest respect. He has been a stalwart leader in the defense of democratic values, the strengthening of Italian-Israeli bilateral ties, the struggle against anti-Semitism, and the opposition to attempts to delegitimize Israel. I will never forget his eloquent speech to the 2009 AJC Global Forum where he said, 'Our friendship with Israel and its people is a key plank of our foreign policy' and 'The distinction between anti-Semitism and legitimate criticism of the policies and practices of the State of Israel can easily become blurred.'"

Harris is no stranger to Italy, having lived there for two years in the 1970s to assist with the transmigration of Soviet Jews. He later returned often to Italy, from 2000-2002, as a Visiting Scholar at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Bologna. He also met his future wife in Rome in 1975, where she and her family had found refuge after being expelled from Libya in 1967.

Harris has previously been honored with the highest civilian awards for his international work on behalf of AJC by seven other European countries: Bulgaria, France, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Spain, and Ukraine.

AJC maintains an office in Rome headed by Lisa Palmieri-Billig, AJC's representative to Italy and the Holy See.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee