Indian Express, Agencies : Jerusalem, India-born music conductor Zubin Mehta has been honoured with Israel's first Presidential Awards of Distinction, the country's version of the French Legion of Honour or the Order of Canada. The award is being bestowed upon those 'who have made an outstanding contribution to the state of Israel or to humanity, through their talents, services, or in any other form,' a statement from the Israeli
Presidency said. Mehta, 75, will be sharing the honours with the likes of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Judith Feld Carr, a Canadian-Jewish musician and human rights activist who helped smuggle thousands of Jews out of Syria, the Rashi Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, Chabad Rabbi Adin Even Yisrael and attorney Uri Slonim. The Indian conductor, who is the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO), will be awarded the honour 'for his unique contribution to the world of Israeli music,' the statement said. "I'm old enough to 
Image Link Flickrknow that people are no less important than ideas," Israel's Nobel laureate President, Shimon Peres, said at a ceremony in honour of the recipients. "The world has learned to say 'thank you', and it's time that we also thank people of stature, people who set an example for the younger generation, so as to send a message that any person can be as great as his greatest action or thought," Peres added. The Israeli president and the members of the advisory council, chaired by former supreme court president Meir Shamgar and former president Yitzhak Navon, yesterday announced the names of the recipients of the first Presidential Awards of Distinction. Source: Indian Express
