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'Modern-day prophet'

Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon hailed Martin Luther King as a "modern-day prophet" when he honored the slain civil rights leader in a ceremony at the Israeli Embassy.

"We gather this evening, as we have for the last 20 years, to pay homage and tribute to the life and work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.," Mr. Ayalon said at the reception last week in advance of today's annual commemoration of King's birthday.

"Rev. King was a modern-day prophet, a veritable reincarnation of Jeremiah or Isaiah, as well as an American patriot," he said, comparing King with the ancient Israeli prophets.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who also spoke at the reception, said blacks and Jews have shared historical suffering.

"We have both known slavery. We've known exile. We've known the hand of God as the key to survival," he said.

Mr. Ayalon also honored Carolyn Goodman, whose son, Andrew, was among three civil-rights activists murdered in 1964 in Mississippi, and Richard Womack, a civil-rights official with the AFL-CIO.

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