- Original name:
- Shimon Perski
- Born:
- August 16?, 1923, Wiszniew, Poland [now Vishnyeva, Belarus]
- Political Affiliation:
- Israel Labour Party
- Mapai
- Awards And Honors:
- Nobel Prize (1994)
Shimon Peres
-
Who was Shimon Peres?
Shimon Peres, born in Wiszniew, Poland (now Vishnyeva, Belarus), on August 16, 1923, was an Israeli statesman who held the positions of both prime minister (1984–86 and 1995–96) and president (2007–14) of Israel.
In 1993, as Israeli foreign minister, he played a crucial role in negotiating a peace accord with Yasser Arafat of the PLO. This achievement led to him, along with Yitzhak Rabin, jointly receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994.
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What important roles did Shimon Peres have in Israel's government?
Shimon Peres held several key roles in Israel's government, including two terms as prime minister (1984–86 and 1995–96) and as president (2007–14).
Key roles:
- Head of Israel’s navy (1948): At just 24, David Ben-Gurion appointed Peres to this position after Israel gained independence.
- Deputy director-general of the Ministry of Defense (1952) and later as director-general (1953–59): He increased state weapons production, started a nuclear research program, and created military alliances with other countries.
- Foreign minister: Yitzhak Rabin appointed Peres as foreign minister in July. After the Israel-PLO accord in 1993, Peres managed negotiations with the PLO regarding the implementation of the pact.
- Negotiating the Oslo Accords: As foreign minister, Peres helped negotiate a peace accord with Yasser Arafat, for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994.
- Other roles: deputy prime minister (2001–02), and vice prime minister (2005) in the national unity government led by Ariel Sharon.
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When did Shimon Peres serve as prime minister and president of Israel?
Shimon Peres served as prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and again from 1995 to 1996. Later, he served as president of Israel from 2007 to 2014. In 1993, as foreign minister, Peres helped negotiate a peace accord with Yasser Arafat, for which they and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994.
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What were some challenges that Shimon Peres faced while leading Israel?
During his terms as prime minister, Shimon Peres faced numerous challenges, including navigating a complex political landscape and addressing critical economic and security issues. In September 1984, after an indecisive election, Peres formed a power-sharing agreement with Yitzhak Shamir, leading a national unity government to rescue the economy and withdraw from the controversial incursion into Lebanon.
However, this coalition was unstable, and collapsed in 1990. As prime minister after Rabin's assassination in 1995, Peres hoped to capitalize on sympathy for Rabin, but a series of Hamas suicide attacks against civilians shocked and angered Israelis. His campaign was also damaged by an artillery bombardment of southern Lebanon that mistakenly hit a UN outpost, damaging his standing among Israeli Arabs. In May 1996, he was narrowly defeated in his bid for reelection by Benjamin Netanyahu.
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How did Shimon Peres contribute to the peace process in the Middle East?
Shimon Peres, as foreign minister of Israel, played a crucial role in the Middle East peace process, most notably by helping to negotiate a peace accord with Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993. This landmark agreement led to the establishment of Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. For their efforts, Peres, along with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat, jointly received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994. Following Rabin's assassination in 1995, Peres took over as prime minister and continued to pursue the implementation of the Oslo II agreement.
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Why is Shimon Peres remembered as an important figure in Israeli and world history?
Shimon Peres is remembered as an important figure in Israeli and world history due to his long career and dedication to peace. He served as both prime minister (1984–86 and 1995–96) and president (2007–14) of Israel and helped negotiate a peace accord with Yasser Arafat in 1993, for which they were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994. Peres also initiated Israel's nuclear program and established overseas military alliances. His efforts to achieve peace between Israel and its neighbors, as well as his leadership in Israeli politics, have solidified his place in history.
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Shimon Peres (born August 16?, 1923, Wiszniew, Poland [now Vishnyeva, Belarus]; see Researcher’s Note—died September 28, 2016, Ramat Gan, Israel) was a Polish-born Israeli statesman, who served as both prime minister (1984–86 and 1995–96) and president (2007–14) of Israel and as leader of the Israel Labour Party (1977–92, 1995–97, and 2003–05). In 1993, in his role as Israeli foreign minister, Peres helped negotiate a peace accord with Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), for which they, along with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994.
Peres immigrated with his family to Palestine in 1934. In 1947 he joined the Haganah movement, a Zionist military organization, under the direction of David Ben-Gurion, who soon became his political mentor. When Israel achieved independence in May 1948, Prime Minister Ben-Gurion appointed Peres, then only 24 years old, head of Israel’s navy. In 1952 he was appointed deputy director general of the Ministry of Defense, and he later served as director general (1953–59) and deputy defense minister (1959–65), during which service he stepped up state weapons production, initiated a nuclear research program, and established overseas military alliances, most notably with France. Peres resigned in 1965 to join Ben-Gurion in founding a new party, Rafi, in opposition to the succeeding prime minister, Levi Eshkol.
The Rafi Party was unsuccessful, and in 1967 Peres initiated merger negotiations between the Mapai (Ben-Gurion’s former party) and the Ahdut Avodah, a more leftist workers’ party, which led to the establishment of the Israel Labour Party, of which he became deputy secretary-general. He became defense minister in the Labour cabinet of Rabin in 1974.
In 1977 Peres became head of the Labour Party and, as such, was twice defeated (1977, 1981) by Menachem Begin of the Likud party as a candidate for prime minister before winning access to the post after the indecisive elections of 1984. In September 1984 Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, head of Likud, formed a power-sharing agreement, with Peres as prime minister for the first half of a 50-month term and Shamir as deputy prime minister and foreign minister; the roles were reversed for the second 25-month period. Under Peres’s moderate and conciliatory leadership, Israel withdrew its forces in 1985 from their controversial incursion into Lebanon. After similarly indecisive elections in 1988, the Labour and Likud parties formed another coalition government, with Peres as finance minister and Shamir as prime minister; this coalition lasted only until 1990, when Likud was able to form a government without Labour support.
In February 1992, in the first primary election ever held by a major Israeli party, Peres lost the Labour leadership to Rabin. When Labour won in the general elections in June and Rabin became prime minister of Israel in July, Peres was brought into the cabinet as foreign minister. After the Israel-PLO accord was signed in 1993, Peres handled the negotiations with the PLO over the details of the pact’s implementation. Following the assassination of Rabin in 1995, Peres took over as prime minister. In May 1996 he was narrowly defeated in his bid for reelection by Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud. Peres declined to seek reelection as leader of the Labour Party in 1997 but stayed active in politics, serving as foreign minister (2001–02), deputy prime minister (2001–02), and vice prime minister (2005) in the national unity government led by Likud’s Ariel Sharon. In 2003 Peres resumed the chair of the Labour Party but was unexpectedly defeated in the party’s leadership election in November 2005. A few weeks later he left the Labour Party to join the centrist party Kadima. From 2007 to 2014 Peres served as president of Israel, a largely ceremonial post.
In 2012 Peres was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. His books include the memoir Battling for Peace (1995) and Ben-Gurion: A Political Life (2011).