June 4, 2011 -- New York -- AJC mourns the passing of former U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger.

“A distinguished diplomat and representative of our country, Larry Eagleburger was a strong advocate for Soviet Jewry and steadfast supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris, who met him several times in the course of the diplomat's career.

While Deputy Secretary of State, Eagleburger was sent by President George H.W. Bush to Israel in 1991, when Iraq fired Scud missiles at the Jewish state during the first Gulf War. Eagleburger was a trusted friend of Israel. His message was to assure Israelis of American determination to stop the missiles, as Washington had asked Jerusalem to refrain from its own response to the missile onslaught. 

The next year, Eagleburger was appointed Secretary of State, the first career diplomat ever to be appointed to that position.

After leaving the State Department, Eagleburger agreed to chair the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, the effort to negotiate with European insurance companies on behalf of Holocaust-era claims. AJC's Harris, and, later Rabbi Andrew Baker, served on the Commission under Eagleburger's leadership.