Former Israeli PM Shimon Peres dies

[webfact]

Former Israeli PM Shimon Peres dies

 

(BBC) Former Israeli PM and president Shimon Peres has died aged 93 following a stroke two weeks ago, reports say.

 

Mr Peres served twice as Israel's prime minister and once as president.

 

He was one of the last of a generation of Israeli politicians who were present at the new nation's birth in 1948.

 

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37492153

 

-- © Copyright BBC 2016-09-28

[webfact]

Israeli media: Former Israeli President Shimon Peres dies 

ARON HELLER, Associated Press

 

JERUSALEM (AP) — Shimon Peres, a former Israeli president and prime minister, whose life story mirrored that of the Jewish state and who was celebrated around the world as a Nobel prize-winning visionary who pushed his country toward peace, has died, the Israeli news website YNet reported early Wednesday. He was 93.

 

Peres' condition worsened following a major stroke two weeks ago.

 

In an unprecedented seven-decade political career, Peres filled nearly every position in Israeli public life and was credited with leading the country through some of its most defining moments, from creating its nuclear arsenal in the 1950s, to disentangling its troops from Lebanon and rescuing its economy from triple-digit inflation in the 1980s, to guiding a skeptical nation into peace talks with the Palestinians in the 1990s.

 

A protege of Israel's founding father David Ben-Gurion, he led the Defense Ministry in his 20s and spearheaded the development of Israel's nuclear program. He was first elected to parliament in 1959 and later held every major Cabinet post — including defense, finance and foreign affairs — and served three brief stints as prime minister. His key role in the first Israeli-Palestinian peace accord earned him a Nobel Peace Prize and revered status as Israel's then most recognizable figure abroad.

 

And yet, for much of his political career he could not parlay his international prestige into success in Israeli politics, where he was branded by many as both a utopian dreamer and political schemer. His well-tailored, necktied appearance and swept-back gray hair seemed to separate him from his more informal countrymen. He suffered a string of electoral defeats: competing in five general elections seeking the prime minister's spot, he lost four and tied one.

 

He finally secured the public adoration that had long eluded him when he has chosen by parliament to a seven-year term as Israel's ceremonial president in 2007, taking the role of elder statesman.

 

Peres was celebrated by doves and vilified by hawks for advocating far-reaching Israeli compromises for peace even before he negotiated the first interim accord with the Palestinians in 1993 that set into motion a partition plan that gave them limited self-rule. That was followed by a peace accord with neighboring Jordan. But after a fateful six-month period in 1995-96 that included Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, a spate of Palestinian suicide bombings and Peres' own election loss to the more conservative Benjamin Netanyahu, the prospects for peace began to evaporate.

 

Relegated to the political wilderness, he created his non-governmental Peres Center for Peace that raised funds for cooperation and development projects involving Israel, the Palestinians and Arab nations. He returned to it at age 91 when he completed his term as president.

 

Shimon Perski was born on Aug. 2, 1923, in Vishneva, then part of Poland. He moved to pre-state Palestine in 1934 with his immediate family. Her grandfather and other relatives stayed behind and perished in the Holocaust. Rising quickly through Labor Party ranks, he became a top aide to Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister and a man Peres once called "the greatest Jew of our time."

 

At 29, he was the youngest person to serve as director of Israel's Defense Ministry, and is credited with arming Israel's military almost from scratch. Yet throughout his political career, he suffered from the fact that he never wore an army uniform or fought in a war.

 

Of his 10 books, several amplified his vision of a "new Middle East" where there was peaceful economic and cultural cooperation among all the nations of the region.

 

Despite continued waves of violence that pushed the Israeli political map to the right, the concept of a Palestinian state next to Israel became mainstream Israeli policy many years after Peres advocated it.

 

Shunted aside during the 1999 election campaign, won by party colleague Ehud Barak, Peres rejected advice to retire, assuming the newly created and loosely defined Cabinet post of Minister for Regional Cooperation.

 

In 2000, Peres absorbed another resounding political slap, losing an election in the parliament for the largely ceremonial post of president to Likud Party backbencher Moshe Katsav, who was later convicted and imprisoned for rape.

 

Even so, Peres refused to quit. In 2001, at age 77, he took the post of foreign minister in the government of national unity set up by Ariel Sharon, serving for 20 months before Labor withdrew from the coalition.

 

Then he followed Sharon into a new party, Kadima, serving as vice-premier under Sharon and his successor, Ehud Olmert, before assuming the presidency.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-09-28

[Somtamnication]

RIP. The only true Jewish leader who was not a warmonger or a Palestinian hater. He was fair but firm and tough. The Palestinians missed a few wins because of their hard heads. Now they are left with good old Bibi. 

[webfact]

Israel's elder statesman Shimon Peres dead at 93

Jonathan Cook

 

End of an era as the last significant figure of Israel's founding fathers dies after suffering a massive stroke.

 

The death of Shimon Peres at the age of 93 marks the departure of the last major figure in Israel's founding generation.

 

He died on Wednesday in a hospital after suffering a major stroke, the Israeli news website Ynet reported, after his condition worsened following a major stroke two weeks ago.

 

Peres - one of the disciples of David Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister - spent his long political career in the public spotlight, but his greatest successes were engineered in the shadows, noted Yaron Ezrahi, a politics professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

 

Full story: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/israel-elder-statesman-shimon-peres-dead-93-160128070510467.html

 

-- AL JAZEERA 2016-09-28

[Ulysses G.]

A very good man who served his country and his people. 

 

RIP.

[Tallagada]

6 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

A very good man who served his country and his people. 

 

RIP.

Following the 1967 war, he championed the cause of the settlers, and used his role as defence minister in the 1970s to establish the first settlements in the northern West Bank. His slogan was: "Settlements everywhere."

 

What a nice guy for sure..... 

[Ulysses G.]

A hero 

[up-country_sinclair]

Shimon Peres compared to the rest of the war mongering, land thieves in Israel?

 

 

It's like being the least overweight kid at Fat Camp.  No, he's not as morbidly obese but he's still disgusting fatty.  

Edited September 28, 2016 by up-country_sinclair

[Ulysses G.]

The man devoted much of his life to making peace and making inroads with an avowed enemy, but haters are going to hate. 

[webfact]

Former Israeli president Shimon Peres dies aged 93

 

 

TEL AVIV: -- Former Israeli president Shimon Peres has died aged 93 in hospital in Tel Aviv.

 

The elder statesman had been in an induced coma following a stroke two weeks ago. Although he had made progress, doctors warned on Tuesday there had been a sudden deterioration in his condition.

 

In his career the veteren statesman had served as both prime minister and president.

 

He also won the Nobel peace prize for his part in formulating a political deal with the Palestinians in the 1990s.

 

World leaders are expected to attend his funeral.

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-09-28

[Tallagada]

1 hour ago, Ulysses G. said:

The man devoted much of his life to making peace and making inroads with an avowed enemy, but haters are going to hate. 

Itzak Rabin was a hero...and hated him, especially for Peres views on settlements

[Jingthing]

A real deal founding father of state of Israel and clearly an extraordinarily wonderful human being. When I think of him, I think SWEETHEART. 

 

The spring for a peaceful two state solution didn't come in his lifetime, and that's a sadness, but it would be a much bigger sadness to abandon that hope now that he's gone. 

 

http://forward.com/news/331543/shimon-peres-israels-liberal-elder-statesman-dies-at-93/?attribution=home-hero-item-text-1

 

His legacy in his own words:

 

Quote

 

 

“My years place me at an observation point from which the scene of our life as a reviving nation is seen, spread out in all its glory. It is true that in the picture[,] stains also appear. It is true that we have gone astray and have erred — but please believe me, there is no room for melancholy. The outstanding achievements of Israel in its 60 years, together with the courage, wisdom and creativity of our young generation, give birth to one clear conclusion: Israel has the strength to reach great prosperity and to become an exemplary state as commanded us by our prophets.

“Permit me to remain an optimist. Permit me to be a dreamer of his people. Permit me to present the sunny side of our state. And also, if sometimes the atmosphere is autumnal, and also if today, the day seems suddenly gray, the president whom you have chosen will never tire of encouraging, awakening and reminding — because spring is waiting for us at the threshold. The spring will definitely come.”

 

 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Jingthing

[webfact]

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Foreign Ministry: Obama, Clintons, pope and Prince Charles to attend Shimon Peres' funeral.

[Morch]

1 hour ago, Tallagada said:

Itzak Rabin was a hero...and hated him, especially for Peres views on settlements

 

The rivalry between the two preceded the founding of the first illegal settlement. Rabin's main complaint against Peres related to the latter's inclination for backroom politics. In his autobiography, Rabin described Peres as an "unrelenting conniver". Peres's views on the settlements were not much different than Rabin's - the initial positions evolving over time. In general, Peres is usually seen as the more "willing" when it came to matters concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

[Tallagada]

46 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

A real deal founding father of state of Israel and clearly an extraordinarily wonderful human being. When I think of him, I think SWEETHEART. 

 

The spring for a peaceful two state solution didn't come in his lifetime, and that's a sadness, but it would be a much bigger sadness to abandon that hope now that he's gone. 

 

http://forward.com/news/331543/shimon-peres-israels-liberal-elder-statesman-dies-at-93/?attribution=home-hero-item-text-1

 

His legacy in his own words:

 

 

 Peres was the hawk of the Israeli cabinet — he had reservations regarding territorial compromise and was strongly opposed to a Palestinian state. During our time together, Peres explained his view on the need for more Israeli settlements. Settlements, he argued, served as "the roots and the eyes of Israel."

http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/07/24/the-transformation-of-shimon-peres/

strange way to promote peace while stealing land and being opposed to a palestinian state....

[Jingthing]

I figured Obama and Bill Clinton would be there. But Hillary Clinton? In the middle of a campaign? She should go of course, but that's kind of unusual. Of course trump shouldn't go. I don't think he even knew him. 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Jingthing

[Morch]

1 minute ago, Tallagada said:

 Peres was the hawk of the Israeli cabinet — he had reservations regarding territorial compromise and was strongly opposed to a Palestinian state. During our time together, Peres explained his view on the need for more Israeli settlements. Settlements, he argued, served as "the roots and the eyes of Israel."

http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/07/24/the-transformation-of-shimon-peres/

strange way to promote peace while stealing land and being opposed to a palestinian state....

 

the bit quoted relates to an interview which took place in 1976. The linked article is titled "The Transformation of Shimon Peres". If anything it attests to the man's ability to review and adjust his political views.

[Jingthing]

It's predictable that even regarding one of the most admirable peace loving political leaders in the history of Israel that Israel trash talkers would come out to play. 

[Tallagada]

14 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

the bit quoted relates to an interview which took place in 1976. The linked article is titled "The Transformation of Shimon Peres". If anything it attests to the man's ability to review and adjust his political views.

Which he didn't about settlements, Rabin didn't like him also because of this and it was not in 1976

[Tallagada]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

It's predictable that even regarding one of the most admirable peace loving political leaders in the history of Israel that Israel trash talkers would come out to play. 

So you probably despise Yithzak Rabin...

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, Tallagada said:

So you probably despise Yithzak Rabin...

Speak for yourself, or better yet, not.

You're obviously here to trash talk one of the greatest men in the history of Israel who developed into a passionate peace and compromise advocate.

 

That's particularly nasty in regards to such an amazing human being that touched so many people all over the world .... SHIMON PERES. 

 

Like UG said, haters gonna hate. 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Jingthing

[Tallagada]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Speak for yourself, or better yet, not.

You're obviously here to trash talk one of the greatest men in the history of Israel who developed into a passionate peace and compromise advocate.

 

Like UG said, haters gonna hate. 

Nope I am here to show that Peres is not the so great peace maker the world want us to see, and that Rabin pointed this out quite clearly.

And honestly I don' care what you think of me..when you side with UG you can nearly side with Yisrael Beiteinu and Lieberman..and we know he is also a "peace bringer" 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Tallagada

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, Tallagada said:

Nope I am here to show that Peres is not the so great peace maker the world want us to see, and that Rabin pointed this out quite clearly.

And honestly I don' care what you think of me..when you side with UG you can nearly side with Yisrael Beiteinu and Lieberman

Nobody is denying his history. But you're denying his amazing progression and I find that hateful and disgusting. 

 

I also honor his role in the founding of Israel. Modern Israelis had the privilege of living in the same era as their founding fathers. 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Jingthing

[Tallagada]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

Nobody is denying his history. But you're denying his amazing progression and I find that hateful and disgusting. 

 

I also honor his role in the founding of Israel. Modern Israelis had the privilege of living in the same era as their founding fathers. 

Yeah yeah, well you know what : people die everyday, and showing Peres as a peace bringer is just a farce. Clearly he worked for Israel yes, but his view on the two state solution and his push on settlements do not make him better than Bibi...the only one who could have changed the history at the time was Rabin, not Peres...He was a master to deal behind the curtains but clearly not the one you think he was...and you just have to look at his views, his problems with Rabin at the time to know it...When you want peace but you not want a 2 state solution and push to have more settlements, well this cannot bring peace..

[Jingthing]

OK, this is sick now.

Again, nobody is denying the political history. But you're denying the way Peres changed and developed. And you're doubling down on pushing ignorant propaganda that his story is ONLY about the older history. Given that, I see what we're dealing with here, no rationality, just pure HATRED in the face of one of Israel's greatest men ... so goodbye. Welcome to my ignore list. 

[freebyrd]

47 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I figured Obama and Bill Clinton would be there. But Hillary Clinton? In the middle of a campaign? She should go of course, but that's kind of unusual. Of course trump shouldn't go. I don't think he even knew him. 

 

Trump probably thinks Shimon Peres is a Mexican name.

[Jingthing]

It's awesome to consider he was a founding father of Israel. Seems a fitting time to view the national anthem of the nation he was so important in founding:

 

 

[Morch]

48 minutes ago, Tallagada said:

Which he didn't about settlements, Rabin didn't like him also because of this and it was not in 1976

 

Peres did not change his opinions about settlements? You better read the OP again. While have another go at the article you linked. Specially, the bit quoted is related to "I interviewed Peres a second time, in 1976,...". Alleging that Rabin's differences with Peres had to do with the latter's supposedly pro-settlement views is not supported by anything posted.

 

 

 

 

[Morch]

47 minutes ago, Tallagada said:

Nope I am here to show that Peres is not the so great peace maker the world want us to see, and that Rabin pointed this out quite clearly.

And honestly I don' care what you think of me..when you side with UG you can nearly side with Yisrael Beiteinu and Lieberman..and we know he is also a "peace bringer" 

 

Where did Rabin "pointed this out quite clearly"? And doubt anyone labeled Lievberman a "peace bringer". Troll away...

[Morch]

41 minutes ago, Tallagada said:

Yeah yeah, well you know what : people die everyday, and showing Peres as a peace bringer is just a farce. Clearly he worked for Israel yes, but his view on the two state solution and his push on settlements do not make him better than Bibi...the only one who could have changed the history at the time was Rabin, not Peres...He was a master to deal behind the curtains but clearly not the one you think he was...and you just have to look at his views, his problems with Rabin at the time to know it...When you want peace but you not want a 2 state solution and push to have more settlements, well this cannot bring peace..

 

Rabin was never openly in support of a full fledged Palestinian state. In fact, his speech at the time of the vote on the Oslo Accords referred to "less than a state".