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December 12, 2003/Kislev 17 5764, Vol. 56, No. 12
Sen. Paul Simon remembered
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - Hearing of Sen. Paul Simon for the first time, many American Jews presumed he was a co-religionist, if only because of his name.
Even when they learned he was the son of a Lutheran missionary, most Jews quickly warmed to Simon because they agreed with the late senator's convictions.
The Illinois Democrat, who served in the Senate from 1985 to 1997, died Dec. 9 from complications of heart surgery. He was 75.
"He was a non-Jew that every Jew could feel comfortable with," said Hyman Bookbinder, a former Washington repre-sentative for the American Jewish Committee. "He came with a Jewish heart and an understanding of Jewish pain."
Simon was elected to the Senate in 1985 after defeating the incumbent, Republican Charles Percy, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Percy was con-sidered anti-Israel and had embraced Yasser Arafat, at that time widely considered a terrorist as leader of the Palestine Liberation Organ-ization.
Simon's victory, at-tributed in part to American Jewish activism and finances, created a kinship between the new senator and the sizeable Jewish community in Chicago and around Illinois.
On Dec. 9, Jewish com-munity officials in Wash-ington and Illinois re-membered Simon as a strong friend of Israel who was closely aligned with Jews on domestic policy as well.
Tom Dine, former executive director of AIPAC, had dinner with Simon several months ago. The retired lawmaker was "his same spry, probing self," Dine said. "He was a natural political leader for the pro-Israel movement in Illinois and across the country."
"Simon was a true friend of Israel, and many in my country will remember him warmly," Danny Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. "He was out front on the issue of Soviet Jewry and he was known for his consistent ongoing support for the state of Israel."
JTA Washington bureau chief Ron Kampeas con-tributed to this report.
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