Senior partner Mark Leibler is one of eight Jewish and non-Jewish leaders from around the world to have been awarded the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor in recognition of their long-standing contributions to the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
In a statement released to media on Monday in Jerusalem, President Herzog said the eight leaders had been chosen for their “unwavering commitment to Israel and their exceptional support of the Jewish people over decades of endeavour, particularly since October 7”.
The Presidential Medal of Honour is Israel’s highest civilian honour, established in 2012 by former President Shimon Peres. It has been awarded to a total of less than 50 individuals, the vast majority of them Israelis. Past non-Israeli recipients include US presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Nobel Prize Laureate Eli Wiesel, director Steven Spielberg and businessman and philanthropist Michael Siegal.
This is the first year the medal has been collectively awarded to a group of Jewish and non-Jewish leaders from abroad, who have contributed to Israel and the Jewish people both personally and through institutions around the world. Mark Leibler and Sir Frank Lowy, who was also recognised by the President this year, are the first two Australians to have been awarded the medal.
The award generated extensive media coverage – in Israel, Australia and internationally – including quotes from Mark:
“Sitting around the dinner table on a Tuesday evening, you don’t expect to receive a call from the President of Israel,” he said “I am astonished and deeply moved to have received this extraordinary honour, which I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.
“Israel has always been central to my identity as a proud Australian Jew. Working in support of Israel, the Australian Jewish community, and the relationship between the two nations has been a passion and a privilege.”
Mark said he was thrilled to be recognised alongside his friend Frank Lowy, who has made a huge contribution on so many levels, to Israel, to world Jewry and to the Australian and international business community.
To read coverage of the Presidential Medal of Honor in The Australian, click here.
To read the AUS editorial, click here.
To read coverage in the AFR, click here.
