Shimon Peres

President of Israel

Szymon Perski 2 August 1923 Wiszniew, Poland

28 September 2016(2016-09-28) (93) Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Ramat Gan, Israel

15 July 2007 – 24 July 2014

Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister and then President of Israel (1923-2016) Shimon PeresPeres in 20099th President of IsraelIn office 15 July 2007 – 24 July 2014Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Benjamin NetanyahuPreceded by Moshe KatsavSucceeded by Reuven Rivlin8th Prime Minister of IsraelIn office 4 November 1995 – 18 June 1996 Acting: 4 November 1995 – 22 November 1995PresidentEzer WeizmanPreceded by Yitzhak RabinSucceeded by Benjamin NetanyahuIn office 13 September 1984 – 20 October 1986PresidentChaim HerzogPreceded by Yitzhak ShamirSucceeded by Yitzhak ShamirIn office 22 April 1977 – 21 June 1977 ActingPresidentEphraim KatzirPreceded by Yitzhak RabinSucceeded by Menachem BeginMinister of Foreign AffairsIn office 7 March 2001 – 2 November 2002Prime Minister Ariel SharonDeputyMichael MelchiorPreceded by Shlomo Ben-AmiSucceeded by Benjamin NetanyahuIn office 14 July 1992 – 22 November 1995Prime Minister Yitzhak RabinDeputyYossi Beilin Eli DayanPreceded by David LevySucceeded by Ehud BarakIn office 20 October 1986 – 23 December 1988Prime Minister Yitzhak ShamirPreceded by Yitzhak ShamirSucceeded by Moshe ArensMinister of DefenceIn office 4 November 1995 – 18 June 1996Preceded by Yitzhak RabinSucceeded by Yitzhak MordechaiIn office 3 June 1974 – 20 June 1977Prime Minister Yitzhak RabinPreceded by Moshe DayanSucceeded by Ezer WeizmanMinister of FinanceIn office 22 December 1988 – 15 March 1990Prime Minister Yitzhak ShamirPreceded by Moshe NissimSucceeded by Yitzhak ShamirMinister of TransportationIn office 1 September 1970 – 10 March 1974Prime Minister Golda MeirPreceded by Ezer WeizmanSucceeded by Aharon YarivMember of the KnessetIn office 3 November 1959 – 13 June 2007 Personal detailsBornSzymon Perski (1923-08-02 ) 2 August 1923 Wiszniew, PolandDied28 September 2016(2016-09-28) (aged 93) Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer, Ramat Gan, IsraelResting placeMount Herzl, JerusalemPolitical partyMapai (1959–1965) Rafi (1965–1968) Labor (1968–2005) Kadima (2005–2016)Other political affiliationsAlignment (1965–1991)Spouse(s)Sonya Gelman ​ ​(m. 1945 ; died 2011 )​ChildrenZvia Yoni ChemiAlma materThe New School New York University Harvard UniversityAwardsNobel Peace Prize (1994)SignatureMilitary serviceAllegiance  IsraelBranch/serviceHaganah Israeli Defense Forces Shimon Peres (/ʃ iː ˌ m oʊ n ˈ p ɛr ɛ s , -ɛ z / ; Hebrew: שמעון פרס ‎ ( listen ) ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the ninth President of Israel from 2007 to 2014 and as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996. He was a member of twelve cabinets and represented five political parties in a political career spanning 70 years. Peres was elected to the Knesset in November 1959 and except for a three-month-long hiatus in early 2006, was in office continuously until he was elected President in 2007. At the time of his retirement in 2014, he was the world's oldest head of state and was considered the last link to Israel's founding generation. From a young age, he was renowned for his oratorical brilliance, and was chosen as a protégé by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding father. He began his political career in the late 1940s, holding several diplomatic and military positions during and directly after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. His first high-level government position was as Deputy Director-General of Defense in 1952 which he attained at the age of 28, and Director-General from 1953 until 1959. In 1956, he took part in the historic negotiations on the Protocol of Sèvres described by British Prime Minister Anthony Eden as the "highest form of statesmanship". In 1963, he held negotiations with U.S. President John F. Kennedy, which resulted in the sale of Hawk anti-aircraft missiles to Israel, the first sale of U.S. military equipment to Israel. Peres represented Mapai, Rafi, the Alignment, Labor and Kadima in the Knesset, and led Alignment and Labor. Peres first succeeded Yitzhak Rabin as Acting Prime Minister briefly during 1977, before becoming Prime Minister from 1984 to 1986. As Foreign Minister under Prime Minister Rabin, Peres engineered the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty, and won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize together with Rabin and Yasser Arafat for the Oslo Accords peace talks with the Palestinian leadership. In 1996, he founded the Peres Center for Peace, which has the aim of "promot lasting peace and advancement in the Middle East by fostering tolerance, economic and technological development, cooperation and well-being." After suffering a stroke, Peres died on 28 September 2016 near Tel Aviv. Peres was a polyglot, speaking Polish, French, English, Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew, although he never lost his Polish accent when speaking in Hebrew. In his private life, he was a poet and songwriter, writing stanzas during cabinet meetings, with some of his poems later being recorded as songs in albums. As a result of his deep literary interests, he could quote from Hebrew prophets, French literature, and Chinese philosophy with equal ease.