Israeli writer Amos Oz has been awarded the 2005 Goethe Cultural Prize, one of Germany’s top literary prizes. An Agence France Presse wire story reports that the €50,000 prize, which is a lifetime achievement award, went to Oz “for his literary work and impressive moral responsibility, according to Petra Roth, mayor of Frankfurt and president of the jury awarding the prize.” Oz told Israeli public television, “I am greatly moved for this a very prestigious prize which has been awarded in the past to the likes of Thomas Mann and Sigmund Freud.” He also said, “I didn’t even know I was a candidate. I was surprised to learn about it from the mayor of Frankfurt.”