Shimon Peres

Who is Shimon Peres?

Born Szymon Perski in Wiszniew, then in Poland, he emigrated with his family to Mandatory Palestine in 1934. Over a public career spanning nearly seventy years he held almost every senior office in Israeli government, including Foreign Minister, Finance Minister, twice Prime Minister, and finally President of Israel from 2007 to 2014. In his early years he was central to building Israel's defense establishment and its aircraft and arms industries. Later he became a leading advocate for peace, sharing the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for the Oslo Accords. After leaving frontline politics he founded the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation. He remained an active elder statesman until his death and was mourned internationally.

Sources: Shimon Peres, 'No Room for Small Dreams: Courage, Imagination, and the Making of Modern Israel' (2017) · Michael Bar-Zohar, 'Shimon Peres: The Biography' (2007)