[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 30, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1397]]


TRIBUTE AND FAREWELL TO HIS EXCELLENCY ITAMAR RABINOVICH, AMBASSADOR OF 
                                 ISRAEL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 30, 1996

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, today with a number of our distinguished 
colleagues from both Chambers of the Congress, I am hosting a farewell 
reception to honor and bid goodbye to the distinguished Ambassador of 
the State of Israel, my dear friend Itamar Rabinovich. The Ambassador 
will return to Israel before the Congress returns from its August 
recess, and this is our last opportunity to bid him farewell while we 
are all still here in Washington.
  Mr. Speaker, joining me in hosting this reception are our colleagues 
from the other body, Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Joseph 
Biden of Delaware. From the House, the hosts are Congressmen Howard 
Berman of California, Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, and Bill Paxon of 
New York.
  Ambassador Rabinovich was named Ambassador of Israel to the United 
States in November 1992, and he has served with great distinction 
during this past 4 years--a particularly significant time in United 
States-Israel relations. He was on hand for the transition in U.S. 
administrations when President Clinton replaced President Bush in 
January 1993. Later in September of that year on the South Lawn of the 
White House, President Clinton hosted the signing ceremony of the 
agreement between the State of Israel and the PLO which led to the 
major breakthrough in the peace process. He continued to play an 
important role coordinating efforts between the United States and 
Israel as the peace process moved forward with the signature of the 
treaty of peace with Jordan and a number of other important steps 
toward regional accommodation.

  Mr. Speaker, we in the Congress have had ample opportunity to judge 
the quality of his representational skills. He has been a frequent 
visitor to my office and to the offices of a great many of us here on 
Capitol Hill. He has been a forceful advocate and a skilled 
representative. He has played a critical role in further strengthening 
the already strong ties between our two countries, and all of us owe 
him a debt of gratitude for his dedicated conscientious and intelligent 
service.
  In addition to his critical role as the principal point of contact 
with our own Government, however, Itamar served simultaneously as chief 
negotiator with Syria, a position to which he was appointed in August 
1992, just a few months before his appointment as Ambassador to the 
United States. As a highly regarded academic specialist on Syria, 
Ambassador Rabinovich played a key role in the extended series of 
negotiations with the Damascus government. Either position--as 
Ambassador to the United States or as chief negotiator with Syria--is a 
full time position. Not only did Itamar handle then both, he handled 
them with great skill and he did an excellent job in giving justice to 
both positions.
  Itamar Rabinovich is a distinguished scholar with an international 
reputation. Before his appointment as Ambassador to the United States, 
he was rector of Tel Aviv University. He was also a professor of Middle 
Eastern studies and the former head of the Dayan Center for Middle 
Eastern and African Studies at the university. As an academic 
specialist on Syria, he is the author of Syria Under the Ba-ath, 1963-
66, The War for Lebanon, 1970-82, and The Road Not Taken: Early Arab-
Israeli Negotiation.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues in the Congress to join me in 
paying tribute and expressing our gratitude for the distinguished 
diplomatic service of our friend, Ambassador Itamar Rabinovich, and in 
wishing a successful and happy future to Itamar and his lovely wife, 
Efrat, and their family.

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