B’nai B’rith President Seth J. Riklin and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:

We are deeply saddened by the passing of former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the first Jewish American to head a department that had previously discriminated against Jews for decades.

A Holocaust refugee and one of America’s distinguished statesmen, Kissinger will forever be remembered for his vital contributions to global diplomacy.

He was the leading statesman of his time, whose mark on American foreign policy and the community of nations will be his lasting legacy.