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"On behalf of all New Yorkers, we welcome Minister Sharansky in his first official visit to New York City," Mayor Giuliani said. " As the city with the largest Jewish population in the world , New York has a special relationship with the State of Israel. This morning Minister Sharansky and I held a breakfast meeting at Gracie Mansion with corporate leaders and members of the Jewish community in New York with a view toward building a stronger and more fruitful economic relationship between New York City and the State of Israel."
"To be welcomed to New York City as the new Minister of Industry and Trade by the Mayor is truly an honor," Minister Sharansky said. "Mayor Giuliani has nurtured the development of an active economic bridge between New York, the hub of international business, and Israel, a newly thriving business community. Together we can bring to a new level the close knit ties and cooperation that already exist between New York City and Israel."
The Mayor pointed out that New York City had recently signed two historic agreements with Mayor Ehud Olmert of Jerusalem and Mayor Roni Milo of Tel Aviv to promote economic and cultural ties between the cities. In October, New York City will host an International Business Conference that was organized with the help of Mayors Olmert and Milo.
Mayor Giuliani also paid tribute to Minister Sharansky as an international human rights leader and as a symbol of the power of the human spirit.
"Minister Sharansky is best known for being a prisoner--a prisoner of conscience--unjustly accused of espionage and treason by the former Soviet Union," the Mayor continued. "After serving seven years of his 13-year sentence in solitary confinement and hard labor, Minister Sharansky was finally released in a prisoner exchange thanks to intense international pressure, much of which came from right here in New York City. He's worked tirelessly ever since as a champion of Soviet Jewry, as an advocate for the new immigrants who continue to arrive in Israel, and now as a member of the Israeli cabinet."