Shimon Peres Biography Quotes 18 Report mistakes

Early Life and Immigration
Shimon Peres was born Szymon Perski on August 2, 1923, in Wiszniew, then in the Second Polish Republic (today Vishnyeva, Belarus). He grew up in a Hebrew-speaking, culturally engaged family that maintained close ties to Jewish communal life. In 1934 he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, where he attended the Ben Shemen Youth Village. As a young pioneer, he helped found Kibbutz Alumot in the Lower Galilee, reflecting a lifelong attachment to agriculture, labor Zionism, and nation-building.

Formative Years in Security and State-Building
Peres joined the Haganah, the pre-state defense organization, and by Israel's early years he was entrusted with pivotal roles in procurement and organizational development. His talents caught the attention of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister and defense minister, who became a central mentor. In 1953 Peres was appointed director general of the Ministry of Defense at the age of 29. Working closely with Ben-Gurion and colleagues such as Levi Eshkol and Moshe Dayan, he forged strategic relationships abroad, most notably in France, that would shape Israel's security posture in its first decades.

During the mid-1950s he played an instrumental role in securing the arms and political understandings that preceded the 1956 Suez Crisis, in which Israel coordinated with Britain and France. Peres also oversaw the development of advanced defense industries and the establishment of long-term strategic capabilities, including the founding of the nuclear research complex near Dimona in cooperation with French partners. These efforts, controversial at the time and debated for generations, were central to Israel's deterrent posture.

Entry into Parliamentary Politics
Peres transitioned to electoral politics in the late 1950s, becoming a member of the Knesset and serving as deputy defense minister. After a split with the ruling Mapai, he joined Ben-Gurion in forming Rafi in 1965, later reuniting with the broad Labor alignment. Under Golda Meir he served in ministerial roles, including transportation and communications, honing an administrative style that prized detail, planning, and international connectivity.

As defense minister in Yitzhak Rabin's first government from 1974 to 1977, Peres oversaw the Israeli military during a period of rebuilding after the 1973 war. He worked with IDF Chief of Staff Motta Gur and senior officers like Dan Shomron and was involved in the decision-making that enabled the 1976 Entebbe rescue operation of hostages held in Uganda. The same years saw the beginnings of settlement activity in the territories captured in 1967, a policy area in which Peres's record would later draw debate and reassessment.

Opposition Leader and Political Resilience
Following Rabin's resignation ahead of the 1977 election, Peres led Labor but lost to Menachem Begin and the Likud, marking a realignment in Israeli politics. He remained opposition leader through the early 1980s, contending repeatedly with Begin and, later, Yitzhak Shamir. Peres's persistence and pragmatism became hallmarks; he was not always the public's first choice, but he excelled at coalition work and policy formulation behind the scenes.

Prime Minister and Economic Stabilization
The 1984 election produced a deadlock, leading to a national unity government with a rotation agreement between Peres and Shamir. As prime minister from 1984 to 1986, Peres confronted hyperinflation and economic crisis. Working with Finance Minister Yitzhak Modai, Bank of Israel Governor Michael Bruno, labor leaders such as Yisrael Kessar, and business counterparts, he advanced the 1985 stabilization plan that dramatically curbed inflation and reoriented Israel toward fiscal restraint and open markets. The plan, though painful in the short term, became a cornerstone of Israel's modern economy.

When the rotation took effect in 1986, Peres became foreign minister under Shamir. He continued to cultivate Israel's ties in Europe and the United States and to explore regional diplomatic openings.

From Oslo to the Nobel Prize
In 1992 Labor returned to power under Yitzhak Rabin, who named Peres foreign minister. Peres supervised the secret back channel that led to the 1993 Oslo Accords with the Palestine Liberation Organization. On the White House lawn, with President Bill Clinton presiding, he stood alongside Rabin and Yasser Arafat as the Declaration of Principles was launched; the Palestinian negotiator who signed opposite him was Mahmoud Abbas. Peres, Rabin, and Arafat were jointly awarded the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.

That same era brought the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, achieved by Rabin and King Hussein, with Peres playing a central diplomatic role. He championed a vision he called the New Middle East, arguing that regional integration, technology, and trade could underpin a lasting peace. Supporters saw in him a strategist of regional transformation; critics warned that the process underestimated violence and mutual suspicions that would soon reemerge.

Interim Premiership and Setbacks
After Rabin was assassinated in November 1995 by a Jewish extremist opposed to Oslo, Peres became prime minister. He confronted a surge of terror attacks and a polarized public. In the 1996 election he narrowly lost to Benjamin Netanyahu. The defeat underscored the fragility of the peace process and the political cost of governing amid violence. Peres remained a senior figure in Labor, later serving under Ehud Barak as minister of regional cooperation from 1999 to 2001.

Unity Governments and Party Realignment
During the Second Intifada, Peres entered a national unity government led by Ariel Sharon, serving as foreign minister and deputy prime minister from 2001 to 2002. He sought to contain the conflict and keep diplomatic channels open, while supporting measures aimed at protecting Israeli civilians. In 2005 he lost Labor's leadership to Amir Peretz, then broke with his longtime party to back Sharon's centrist Kadima. Under Ehud Olmert, he served as vice premier and minister for the development of the Negev and Galilee, promoting infrastructural and technological initiatives.

President of the State of Israel
In 2007 the Knesset elected Peres as Israel's ninth president. The office, largely ceremonial but symbolically important, had been shaken by scandal under his predecessor, and Peres restored its stature. He used the presidency to advocate for scientific education, entrepreneurship, and cross-border cooperation, hosting international conferences that drew innovators and leaders from around the world. He often appeared alongside figures such as Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and European heads of state, positioning Israel as a hub of innovation while continuing to argue for a negotiated two-state solution with Palestinian counterparts including Mahmoud Abbas.

Peres completed his term in 2014, having become one of the few Israelis whose career spanned every era of statehood and who maintained influence across the country's political divides.

Personal Life and Character
Peres married Sonya Gelman in 1945. They had three children, Tsvia, Yoni, and Chemi. Known for tireless work habits and a deliberate, soft-spoken manner, he balanced an affection for poetry and literature with a technologist's optimism. He authored several books, including works advocating regional cooperation and economic modernization. Even adversaries recognized his mastery of policy detail and his capacity to build alliances, whether with Ben-Gurion, Rabin, Shamir, Sharon, or international leaders such as King Hussein and Hosni Mubarak.

Final Years and Passing
After the presidency, Peres remained active through the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, which he had founded in 1996 to advance people-to-people projects and economic bridges between Israelis, Palestinians, and neighbors in the region. In September 2016 he suffered a stroke and died on September 28 in Tel Aviv. His funeral drew a broad array of dignitaries, including Israeli leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak and international figures such as Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and European royalty, as well as the attendance of Mahmoud Abbas, reflecting both the controversies and aspirations that framed his public life.

Legacy
Shimon Peres's career ran from the clandestine years of the Haganah to the dawn of the high-tech era. To his supporters he was the architect of Israel's strategic depth and a statesman who tried to turn strength into reconciliation. To his critics, aspects of his security and settlement record sat uneasily with his later vision of peace. Yet few dispute his imprint on Israel's defense establishment, its economic transformation in the mid-1980s, and its most ambitious diplomatic efforts in the 1990s. He embodied a belief that political imagination, backed by security and economic resilience, could redefine Israel's place in the Middle East.

Our collection contains 18 quotes who is written by Shimon, under the main topics: Leadership - Learning - Mother - Freedom - Military & Soldier.

Other people realated to Shimon: Abba Eban (Diplomat), Moshe Sharett (Statesman), Warren Christopher (Statesman), Natan Sharansky (Writer), King Hussein I (Statesman), Silvan Shalom (Politician), Ehud Barak (Statesman), Moshe Katsav (Statesman), Amr Moussa (Diplomat), Ezer Weizman (Statesman)