NEW YORK – World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder congratulates Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on his inauguration as the 46th president of the United States of America, and Kamala Harris as vice president, issuing the following statement:
"On behalf of the more than 100 Jewish communities across the globe affiliated with the World Jewish Congress, I am delighted to extend my most heartfelt congratulations to Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. on his inauguration as the 46th president of the United States and to Kamala Harris as vice president.
As an honorary Delawarean by marriage, and as a former U.S. Ambassador to Austria and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, I have known President Biden for over 50 years and know that the Jewish community could not have a better friend and ally in the White House.
In 2016, when we honored President Biden with our highest award, the WJC Theodor Herzl Award, he said: ‘Indifference is silence, and silence is consent.’ I know that he will continue to stand by those words as he takes the helm of this country and steers us toward a future of equality, standing up and speaking out for what is fair and what is right.
The World Jewish Congress extends heartfelt wishes to the Biden and Harris families as they embark on the next four years. We take this moment to acknowledge the poignant absence of Beau Biden, a friend of Delaware’s Jewish community and dedicated public servant.
The World Jewish Congress, and I personally, look forward to working closely with the Biden-Harris administration in meeting the many challenges that confront us, both domestically and internationally, starting with the still raging COVID-19 pandemic that threatens all of us, and the urgent need to rid our society of antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, and all other forms of ethnic or religious hatred, and to counter Holocaust denial, distortion, trivialization and mockery wherever it appears."
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