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Havel was a "true friend" of Israel who in recent years joined with other international leaders to defend the Jewish state against delegitimization.
http://philosemitism.blogspot.com/2011/12/vaclav-havel-great-friend-of-jews-and.html
PARIS/PRAGUE (EJP)---European Jewish Congress (EJC) President Moshe Kantor said former Czech Republic president Vaclav Havel, who died on Sunday, "was known as a great friend of the Jews and did much to confront anti-Semitism and teach the lessons of the dark chapter of the Holocaust during his two terms in office."
Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright who was jailed by communists and then went on to lead the Prague "Velvet Revolution" and become Czech president, died at 75 after a long illness.
"He was a figure for a new and modern Europe to emulate. President Havel lived through communism and led the Czech Republic to a new era helping move his countrymen through a troubled past to a more open, free and tolerant future," Kantor said.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Havel was a"true friend" of Israel who in recent years joined The Friends of Israel group with other international leaders to defend the Jewish state against delegitimization.
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http://www.friendsofisraelinitiative.org/article.php?c=90
The Friends of Israel Initiative mourns the passing of Czech President Vaclav Havel, one of our Founding Members
Statement on the Passing of Founding Member Vaclav Havel
We will forever be grateful for his support and leadership, and humbled by his exemplary and steadfast courage in the face of immense odds.
2011-12-19 by The Friends of Israel Initiative Members
The Friends of Israel Initiative mourns the passing of Czech President Vaclav Havel, one of our Founding Members.
President Havel knew far better than most the value of freedom, democracy and human rights, and the price of repression and intolerance.
He knew the importance of distinguishing between the forces of liberty and those arrayed against human progress and freedom.
That clear focus was pronounced in President Havel’s support for FII, and his view that the State of Israel is an integral part of the West whose right to exist in peace and prosperity was not only a moral certainty, but also the obligation of all human beings of good conscious to defend.
As a leader of people dedicate to throwing off the yolk of hatred and totalitarianism, and a shining beacon to those across the globe beaten down by oppression and long odds, his entire life is a vibrant example of the power of one man’s courage.
President Havel was dedicated to the cause of the Friends of Israel Initiative because of these core values.
He lived a life dedicated to fighting the politics of hate - and that included fighting anti-Semitism and hatred of the Jewish State and the politics of demonization, delegitimization and incitement directed at the one true free, Western country in the Middle East.
It was the lessons he learned under communism and in the fight for his people’s liberty that magnified his appreciation for the justice of Israel’s cause and what a vibrant Jewish State represents in the fight for freedom and against intolerance.
The Friends of Israel Initiative planned to honor President Havel in Prague past spring for his leadership and extraordinary dedication to our cause, but his health and hospitalization prevented that celebration.
We will forever be grateful for his support and leadership, and humbled by his exemplary and steadfast courage in the face of immense odds.
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