At every corner of Israel’s tumultuous history, Shimon Peres was there.
He was a young aide to the nation’s founding fathers when the country declared independence in 1948, and he played a key role in turning Israel into a military power. He was part of the negotiations that sealed the first Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, garnering a Nobel Peace Prize. He was welcomed like royalty in world capitals.
But only at the end of a political career stretching more than 60 years did Peres get what he truly wanted: admiration from his own people. He died at 93 yesterday.
Across a seven-decade career, Peres served as prime minister, president and Labor Party chief. He was the last of the founding fathers, a group of leaders who witnessed the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, including David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir and Ariel Sharon.
Read the article in The Australian (from AP, The Wall Street Journal)
Also in The Australian “Israel begins paying its last respects to Shimon Peres”