Shimon Peres
1923 – 2016 Israeli (born in Poland) defense official, prime minister and president of Israel
Long-serving Israeli statesman, an architect of the Oslo Accords who held nearly every senior office.
- Religion
- Jewish, secular
- Affiliations
- Mapai, Labor Party
Shimon Peres was born Szymon Perski in Wiszniew, then in Poland, and emigrated to Palestine as a boy. Mentored by Ben-Gurion, he built much of Israel's early defense establishment and was central to its nuclear program. Over a career of nearly seventy years he served as prime minister, foreign minister, defense minister, and finally president. As foreign minister under Rabin he was a chief architect of the Oslo Accords and shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Rabin and Arafat. Once seen on the security-minded side of Labor, he became in later life a leading voice for a negotiated peace, though critics noted his role in earlier settlement expansion and the 1996 shelling at Qana in Lebanon.
Connections
- mentor of David Ben-Gurion — Ben-Gurion brought him into the defense establishment and shaped his early career.
- mentor of David Ben-Gurion — Brought the young Peres into the defense establishment and mentored his career.
- rival of Yitzhak Rabin — Long-time party rival who became his partner in the Oslo peace effort.
- rival of Yitzhak Rabin — Party rival who became his partner in the Oslo peace effort.
In the timeline
- 1993 Oslo I Accord foreign minister and architect of the accord
- 1995 Oslo II Accord foreign minister and negotiator