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President Carter, Mrs. Carter,
President Sadat, Mrs. Sadat, ladies and gentlemen.
Amongst the many guests assembled here,
there is a lady from Norway.
Her name is Mrs. Lionaes.
She was, until recently, the chairman of the committee of
the Norwegian Parliament for the Nobel Peace Prize.
I invited her to come today and to be with us,
because when the award was granted by that committee
to two men, she was under certain
criticism from some circles.
And I asked her, after the ceremony of signing,
whether now she can say that she and her colleagues did
not make a mistake.
[Applause]
And she said, with very characteristic
bravery, "I never had any doubts."
[Laughter]
Now, my dear friend, Mrs. Lionaes,
when you come back home, I have a request to you,
respectfully, to get in touch with your former
colleagues, the members of the Nobel Prize committee of
the democratic parliament of your country.
I suggest, ladies and gentlemen,
that all of us-President Sadat and myself,
members of the three Cabinets of the United States,
of Egypt, and Israel,
Members of Congress of both Houses,
Members of the Knesset, writers,
singers, all of us assembled here-to decide to nominate
President Jimmy Carter as a candidate-
[Applause]
I didn't yet say a candidate for what.
[Laughter]
-as a candidate to receive the Nobel Peace Prize of 1979.
[Applause]
And please, no sharing of the award.
[Laughter]
All the prize is due to the President of the United States.
And, Mr. President, if on the 10th of December,
this year, you go to Oslo, and you invite President Sadat
and me to be witnesses for that ceremony,
I am positive that both of us will be in Oslo.
It is due to you, my dear friend, Mr. President.
You deserve it amply.
And I am sure on the 10th of December you will be crowned
with the great, international,
famous award, the Nobel Peace Prize.
[Applause]
Now, ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to pay tribute to a man who is the main
adviser of the President of this great country,
and his friend and my friend.
And as I know all the goings and comings and all the
legal formulations about every word or every letter,
or even comma, I can say to you tonight that a great
service was rendered to the United States,
to Egypt, to Israel, and to the cause of peace by a
gentleman who did so much day and night with his
inventive mind, with his great learning and
knowledge, and who bears another title.
He is also the husband of the perfect lady whom my
wife and I love dearly and respect highly.
I refer to the Secretary of State,
Cyrus Vance.
[Applause]
And the last remark, ladies and gentlemen,
will be absolutely personal.
And I will apologize for making it, but I have to.
In the afternoon, I spoke about survival and perseverance.
Tonight, in your presence, I would like to thank for that
ability to persevere one human being who is here,
whom I met when she was 17 years old, my own wife.
[Applause]
And again, I will quote a prophet, Yirmeyahu.
This time I will translate.
[Speaking in Hebrew.]
"And I will remember the grace of your youth,
the love of your nuptials following me into the
desert, into a land sown with mines."
Now we arrived to be here on this day.
Let us thank God Almighty that he gave us,
together, and our children and our grandchildren the
strength to withstand all the tests,
which sometimes were quite difficult,
until I could, on behalf of our people,
to do the greatest human act,
sign a peace treaty.
In the circle of friendship of President Carter,
President Sadat, and myself; we stand together and
resolve to continue to be always together and work for peace.
And therefore, I raise my glass.
I raise my glass to President Carter,
President of the United States of America,
the mighty democracy which saved the world twice from
the danger of tyranny, militarism,
and totalitarianism, and which is still the guarantee
for human liberty; and to President Sadat,
whom I met for the first time in Jerusalem,
and since then-as it is true,
it comes from my heart-I have a deep sentiment for
him and under any circumstances,
I will guard it in the depths of my heart.
And let us raise a toast to friendship between
America, Egypt, and Israel, forever.
Thank you.