“No nation has paid a higher price in the battle against radical Islamic terrorism than the state of Israel,” United States Ambassador David Friedman said Monday morning, as Israelis and Americans came together at the 9/11 memorial in Jerusalem to remember the 2,997 victims of the September 11th, 2001 attacks in the United States.

The annual event, held by the Keren Kayemet LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), was also attended by Iowa governor Kimberly Reynolds, Israeli opposition leader MK Yitzhak Herzog, KKL-JNF CEO, Mr. Amnon Ben-Ami, American military personnel, and family members of victims.

During the ceremony, Ambassador Friedman stated that radical Islamic terrorism is the “genocidal force of our time,” and that “no nation has paid a higher price than Israel in combatting those forces.”

The ambassador cited a long list of terror attacks against Israeli targets, stretching as far back as the Hebron massacre in 1929.

“On September 11th, 2001, the United States, in a very real and profound way, became the state of Israel. It was attacked by a hateful and barbaric enemy, obsessed by a culture of death and destruction.

“It is so right and appropriate that apart from the United States, the only nation in the world to build a 9/11 memorial containing the names of each and every life that was stolen in this tragic act is the state of Israel.”

Opposition leader Herzog chose to commend the emergency responders for their bravery on September 11th.  “9/11 will always be remembered as a day of terror, but also as a day of great heroism. More than 400 firefighters and law enforcement officers lost their lives in the World Trade Center. They ran without hesitating into the inferno, their courage will never be forgotten.”

“The attacks of 9/11 were not only attacks on the United States,” added Herzog. “They were attacks on the values that America stands for, and the values that America and Israel share together – democracy, freedom and equality.”