Israel's Former President and PM Shimon Peres, an Enduring Pillar From Israel’s Founding Era, Dies at 93 Wednesday Sep 28,2016

Shimon Peres, one of the last surviving pillars of Israel’s founding generation, who did more than anyone to build up his country’s formidable military might, then worked as hard to establish a lasting peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors, died on Wednesday Sep 28,2016 in a Tel Aviv area hospital. He was 93.

His death was announced by his son Nehemya Peres, who is known as Chemi, and his personal physician and son-in-law Dr. Rafi Walden, outside the Sheba Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized for the last two weeks.

Shimon Peres died just over two weeks after suffering a stroke. Doctors kept him largely unconscious and on a breathing tube since then in the hope that it would give his brain a chance to heal. But he deteriorated as the nation he once led watched his last battle play out publicly and as leaders from around the world sent wishes for his recovery.

As prime minister (twice); as minister of defense, foreign affairs, finance and transportation; and, until 2014, as president, Mr. Peres never left the public stage during Israel’s seven decades.

Shimon Peres led the creation of Israel’s defense industry, negotiated key arms deals with France and Germany and was the prime mover behind the development of Israel’s nuclear weapons. But he was consistent in his search for an accommodation with the Arab world, a search that in recent years left him orphaned as Israeli society lost interest, especially after the upheavals of the 2011 Arab Spring led to tumult on its borders.

Historic Handshake

 

In his efforts to help Israel find acceptance in a hostile region, Shimon. Peres’s biggest breakthrough came in 1993, when he worked out a plan with the Palestine Liberation Organization for self-government in Gaza and in part of the West Bank, both of which were occupied by Israel.

After months of secret negotiation with representatives of the P.L.O., conducted with the help of Norwegian diplomats and intellectuals, Mr. Peres persuaded his old political rival Yitzhak Rabin, then the prime minister, to accept the plan. It became known as the Oslo Accords.

Mr. Peres, who was serving as foreign minister,signed the accords on Sep 13,1993  in a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House as Mr. Rabin and their old enemy Yasir Arafat, the chairman of the P.L.O., looked on and, with some prodding by President Bill Clinton, shook hands.

It was a gesture both unprecedented and historic. Up to that time, Israel had refused to negotiate directly with the P.L.O. Mr. Peres broke the taboo, and the impasse.

Nobel Prize

Shimaon Peres,Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.

SHIMON PERES: HOW FATHER OF THE NEW ISRAEL HAD AN UNPRECEDENTED SEVEN DECADES IN POLITICS

In an unprecedented seven-decade political career, Shimon Peres has filled nearly every position in Israeli public life.

—Shimon Perski is born on Aug. 2, 1923 in Vishneva, then part of Poland. He moves to pre-state Palestine in 1934 with his immediate family and later enters politics where he becomes a protegé of Israel's founding father David Ben-Gurion.

—In 1952, at age 29, he becomes the youngest person ever to serve as director-general of Israel's Defense Ministry. There he is credited with arming Israel's military almost from scratch and creating what is widely believed to be a nuclear arsenal.

—In 1959, Peres is first elected to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, serving almost uninterrupted until 2007. He is appointed deputy defense minister.

—In 1969, he is appointed minister of immigrant absorption, the first in a long line of Cabinet position to follow

—In 1977, he suffers defeat while running for prime minister, losing to Menachem Begin, whose Likud party rises to power for the first time.

—In 1984, he finally becomes prime minister after tying with Likud's Yitzhak Shamir and agreeing to share the job in a rotation. As prime minister, he disentangles Israeli troops from Lebanon and rescues the economy from triple-digit inflation.

— In 1992, he becomes foreign minister in the Labor party-led government, serving under his longtime rival Yitzhak Rabin. Together they work to forge the first peace accord with the Palestinians and a peace accord with Jordan. In 1994, they share the Nobel Peace Prize with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

—In 1995, after Rabin is assassinated by a Jewish ultranationalist opposed to Israel's peace moves, Peres became acting prime minister. Just six months later he is defeated by Benjamin Netanyahu in elections.

—In 2007, he is elected president, a largely ceremonial role but one that earns him the kind of national admiration that eluded him throughout his lengthy career.

—In 2014, Peres completes his presidential term, remaining active at his peace center until suffering a debilitating stroke on Sept. 13.