In a special ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, President Isaac Herzog presented the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The award recognizes President Steinmeier’s decades-long moral leadership, his unwavering friendship with the State of Israel, and his commitment to democratic values, memory, and humanity.
The ceremony took place during President Steinmeier’s visit to Israel, following President Herzog’s state visit to Germany. The reciprocal visits marked 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Opening the evening, President Herzog addressed the emotional return of hostage Edan Alexander and renewed his call for the return of all hostages held by Hamas: “This morning I spoke with Edan Alexander and his remarkable family. It was a deeply moving exchange. I welcomed Edan home on behalf of the people of Israel, and I told him how proud we are of him—and his family. Edan Alexander is a true hero.”
He stressed: “We eagerly await the return of all of our sisters and brothers. We need them home, and we will not rest until they are here.”
Among the guests at the ceremony were members of the Haran-Shoham-Kipnis-Avigdori family, who were brutally attacked during the October 7th massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri. The family had gathered to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah when Hamas terrorists stormed the community. Ten members of the extended family were murdered or abducted—including children. Several were held hostage in Gaza for over 500 days.
This evening, three members of the family—Dr. Shoshan Haran, her daughter Adi Shoham, and Adi’s husband Tal Shoham—who were released from captivity, were honored guests at the President’s Residence.
President Herzog told them: “I am truly overcome with emotion seeing you here! Thank you for being with us tonight. We eagerly await the return of all of our sisters and brothers.”
Speaking about the significance of the award and his long personal friendship with the German President, Herzog emphasized: “In my eyes, no occasion is more fitting for presenting the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor to one of Israel’s greatest friends, and a longtime, dear friend of mine, the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.”
“As President, you came to visit Israel and Yad Vashem. There, you stood and said: ‘We Germans bear incomprehensible guilt.’ You did not seek forgiveness. You demanded responsibility from yourself – and from your country. This is the personification of leadership.”
“Mr. President, my dear friend, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, I am tremendously proud to present you today with the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor. Honor for your decades of moral courage; Honor for your unconditional commitment to memory, to security, to hope; Honor for your loyal dedication to the State of Israel and what it represents, to our hostages who we desperately await; to the vision of a safer, brighter, shared future.”
President Steinmeier’s visit stands as a powerful expression of Germany’s commitment to Israel and to the Jewish people, and the strength of the relations between Israel and Germany.
Accepting the award, President Steinmeier said: “Israel, its proud history, its unbelievable rise from the ashes of the Shoah to be a home for the Jewish people, as well as an ideal as a fearless democracy, as a beacon of humanity in a sea of strife and pain, Israel, its people, its minds, its voices, as diverse and colorful as they come – from the very first day, I have fallen In love with this small, courageous and always embattled country and its people. You have inspired me.
“My most fervent wish tonight is for this Israel to prevail and to thrive again. So I accept this medal with. With gratitude and with humility. It is an honor, but it is indeed also very much a call to action in dark days. The seventh of October was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. I will never forget our walk through Kibbutz Be’eri, just a few weeks after the attack, the blood, the ashes, the unspeakable pain. Tonight, I think of the hostages, those who are still in the hands of terrorists in cages and in tunnels, and I think of their families, the hostages they need to come home, the living and the dead, regardless of their passport. The trauma of the seventh of October still lies heavily on this country.”
He stressed, “Fighting terror, seeking peace at the same time, I think we need to do both. Germany is ready to support both. We stand for your security from day one, today and forever, and we stand ready to work with all those who are willing, including your neighbors in the region, towards peace. The suffering cannot last forever. Maybe that's what 60 years of German Israeli relations can tell us today, peace is possible. Reconciliation is possible, even from the deepest abyss whose time is courage and with engagement of the many, may Israel thrive in peace with its neighbors, in peace with itself, Germany is on your side, and thank you.”