Friends of Zion Award Monaco’s Prince Albert

Former president Shimon Peres awarded the Friends of Zion Award to His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, crown prince of Monaco.

The award is presented by the Friends of Zion Heritage Center, which operates a museum in Jerusalem and is part of a global initiative of building a bridge to millions of friends of the Jewish state worldwide to counter BDS and anti-Semitism.

Albert was bestowed the award on Friday as part of his activities as a significant voice for strengthening world support for Israel and the Jewish people. 

“I speak for the Grimaldi house when I say here how proud and privileged I feel to accept this award as a symbol of the strong relations between Israel and Monaco.

It is an honor to have you as our guests,” Albert said at the ceremony.

Peres said he feels more grateful to present the award and for the occasion right before Passover, the holiday of liberation.

“Israel’s relationship with Europe is a significant one for the international community as a whole. We consider our friendship with Monaco, as well as with the rest of the European states, a strategic alliance which will lead the world on a better path and will bring on a brighter future,” he said.

The Friends of Zion Museum opened in Jerusalem last September and emphasizes the saving of Jews during the Holocaust and the contribution made by Righteous Among the Nations. It highlights the connection to Zionism and praises the work of those who have come to the aid of the Jewish people in recent times—through the British Mandate, the Holocaust and up until the establishment of the State of Israel.

The museum includes state-of-the-art exhibitions and displays developed exclusively for the museum.

The museum showcases the contribution of Israel’s friends such as former U.S. president Harry Truman, former U.K. prime minister Winston Churchill, biblical scholar Prof. George Bush—a relative of the Bush political family—Orde Wingate, as well as Righteous Among the Nations, such as Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg and the ten Boom family.