- Shimon Peres remains one of the most beloved figures
in Israeli history.
As the eighth prime minister and later,
the ninth president of Israel,
he was viewed an affectionate elder statesmen
who garnered respect from celebrities
and leaders all over the world
for his charm and personal manner
as well as his idealism and vision.
Now, we're gonna do things little differently
in this episode.
We're gonna catch you up
on the top things you kneed to know about Peres
and through that, together we'll unpack Peres' story,
understand why he was so important,
where he succeeded
and what his overall contributions were
to the Jewish state.
(upbeat music)
One of Peres' most defining qualities
was the strength of his commitment of the Jewish people
even from his earliest days.
Peres was born Szymon Perski in Warsaw, Poland in 1923.
When he was 11, he emigrated to Palestine with his family.
As Peres was getting ready to board the boat out
of Europe, his grandfather told him,
"I have one request of you, Szymon.
"Always stay Jewish."
Peres' grandfather stayed behind in Poland
and later perished in the Holocaust.
But the words he shared with young Szymon stayed
with the boy for the rest of his life.
Later, in the 1940s, Peres followed a major trend
in the rising Jewish state
by Hebraizing his name.
Every one was doing it.
David Gruen became David Ben-Gurion,
Golda Meyerson became Golda Meir.
And Szymon Persky became Shimon Peres.
By changing their European names to Hebrew one,
these current and future leaders of Israel
were publicly acknowledging,
even embracing their Judaism.
Peres is also famous for having the longest-lasting tenure
of any politician in Israeli history.
He was first brought into politics in 1946
at the ripe age of 23.
David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister,
recruited Peres to help buy weapons
for the Haganah, the pre-state version
of Israel's defense forces.
That started a 48-year-long political career
that saw Peres hold a number
of top political roles
including Minister of Immigration,
Minster of Defense, Prime Minister and then president.
David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minster of Israel
claimed there were three reasons
for Peres' personal and political success.
"He does not lie.
"He does not say bad things about other people.
"When he knocks on my door,
"he usually has a new idea."
Which might not be bad advice
for aspiring politicians in general.
Be honest, be kind and be full of ideas.
Many of Peres' new ideas had to do
with bolstering Israel's defense,
its nuclear program, for example.
In the early 1950s,
Peres had a bold plan to secure nuclear arms
for the fledgling Jewish state.
France was developing its own nuclear arsenal at the time
and Peres decided to travel there
and spend some time with the French studying,
listening and learning.
A few years later, he signed an agreement
with France that provided Israel
with a small nuclear reactor
that experts believe served
as the basis for Israel's growing nuclear capabilities.
This deal made Israel the sixth country in the world
to possess nuclear arms
though they've technically never confirmed that they do.
It's just kind of an open secret.
Peres also had a major hand
in helping Israel develop its technology industry.
He long envisioned Israel
as the startup nation of the Middle East
long before that dream was a reality,
and later, a bestselling book by Dan Senor
and Saul Singer.
Peres once explained that his vision stemmed
from the common picture of Jews arriving
in the wasteland of pre-state Israel
and essentially making it bloom.
He saw the creativity and hard work
that transformed muggy, mosquito-infested swamps
into flourishing farms
and one of the most visited tourist destinations
in the world
as a potential driver for the new country's economy.
In the state's early days,
Israelis initially had very few natural resources
in the region and had to rely on their creativity
to first come up with basic necessities
and later, products that the rest of the world
would find fascinating
and in some cases, even indispensable.
For example, modern drip irritation for crops
which uses much less water
than traditional irrigation techniques
and actually grows more crops
is an Israel's invention.
Peres' guidance and encouragement went a long way.
He championed the establishment
of The Yozma Program in 1993
which helped spark Israel's venture capital industry.
And he launched
his own nanotechnology investment fund in 2003.
Thanks to these initiatives and a few others,
Israel strengthened its presence in the Negev
and the Galilee and began building out
its scientific and technological centers.
Peres' ideas played a crucial role
in time of crisis too
like during the dramatic
counter-terrorist hostage rescue mission
that came to be known as Operation Entebbe
or Operation Thunderbolt.
In 1976, hijackers, working for two terrorist organizations,
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
and the German Revolutionary Cells took control
of a plane on its way from Tel Aviv to Paris.
The hijackers flew the plane
to Entebbe, Uganda
where they released the 148 non-Israeli passengers
but held the Israeli and Jewish passengers
and crew hostage.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin pushed
to negotiate with the terrorists
in order to free the prisoners.
Defense Minister Peres encouraged him
to hold off, promising that there was some kind
of military action that they could take.
And he was right.
For more information about this rescue operation,
you should check out our episodes we did on it.
It's really wild stuff.
But none of this means
that all of Peres' ideas worked.
One of his most controversial contributions
to Israel and perhaps what he's best known for
is his involvement in the 1993 Oslo Accords,
a set of controversial peace-minded agreements
between the Israeli government
and the Palestine Liberation Organization or PLO.
Peres had been privately negotiating with the Palestinians
in the months leading up
to the famous handshake
between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
and PLO President Yasser Arafat
on the White House lawn
while U.S. President Bill Clinton looked on proudly.
Peres, Rabin and Arafat
all won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize
for their efforts but the award soon became controversial
because the agreements quickly broke down
and led to a wave
of Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis.
Still, peace became a focal point for Peres
in the last few decades of his life.
He established The Peres Center for Peace
with the goal of coming up with creative solutions
to the seemingly eternal struggle
for lasting peace in the Middle East.
One noteworthy achievement in this area
was Peres' involvement
in the signing of an Israel-Jordan peace treaty in 1994
which brought an end to 46 years of official,
if not always active, war between the two countries.
More than anything else,
Peres' experiences throughout
his political career changed him.
He went from a war and military-minded man
to someone almost exclusively preoccupied with peace.
The same Peres who pushed for military force
in Entebbe evolved to negotiate with Arafat
winning the Nobel Peace Prize
and spend the last few decades of his life working
towards a lasting peace.
Another leader might have stood behind
their policy goalposts,
refusing to budge
but Peres was able to grow as a public leader,
evolving with the times
to stay relevant and effect change.
Meanwhile in his personal life,
Peres was a sensitive and emotive person.
Among other things,
he was a poet and a songwriter.
He wrote several books
about Israeli history and leaders
and during some of the slower political meetings,
it was not uncommon to see Peres jotting down
a few stanzas for his poetic project
of the moment.
Peres was more than just a writer and a poet though.
He was an academic with broad literary knowledge
and could quote from the Jewish prophets,
French literature and Chinese philosophy
all in the same conversation.
Peres' sensitive side also came through
in his reputation as a perennial optimist.
Throughout his life,
he remained the eager-eyed,
highly imaginative and easily excited man
who President Bill Clinton
once called Israel's biggest dreamer.
Peres said towards the end of his life,
"At 93, I am still that curious boy,
"enamored of hard questions,
"eager to dream and unbowed by the doubt of others."
He also said, "Every day I wake up
"and I count my achievements.
"And then I count the dreams I have in my head.
"As long as I have more dreams in my head
"than achievements, I am young."
But on the other hand, he also noted
that people accused him of being too optimistic.
One of the reasons for this accusation
was the Oslo Accords
which initially had 70 to 80% support
from the Israeli public
but lost broad support
when peace didn't follow
and terrorist activity actually increased.
Many wondered if the accords had been a huge mistake
but to these detractors, Peres said,
"I tell them that both optimists
"and pessimists die in the end
"but the optimist leads a hopeful and happy existence
"while the pessimist spends
"his days cynical and downtrodden.
"It is too high a price to pay."
In other words, yes,
there is a risk to optimism
but you can't move forward without hope.
As president toward the end of his life,
Peres became an Israeli celebrity figure.
It was not uncommon
in his last decade or so
to see pictures of the Israeli president hobnobbing
with Mark Zuckerberg, schmoozing with Madonna,
exchanging jokes with Jerry Seinfeld
and dining with world leaders
all across the planet.
Perhaps his popularity is best exhibited
by the sheer number of huge names
that attended his funeral in 2016.
These included Bill Clinton,
Barack Obama, Prince Charles,
French President Francois Hollande,
Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau,
German President Joachim Gauck
and even Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas.
Peres was eulogized by Netanyahu,
Clinton and Obama at a ceremony attended
by more than 50,000 Israelis.
A fitting send off to a long beloved leader.
However, like every politician and public leader,
Peres had his critics
and in some ways he was also quite unpopular.
He lost four out of the five elections
for prime minister he ran in
during the 1980s and '90s
and had critics who claimed
that his efforts in the Oslo Accords
were too slight
and that his Nobel Peace Prize award
was short sighted.
Overall however, Peres has remained wildly popular
among Israelis and Jews throughout the world.
There are many things that Peres' life story
and religious and political achievements leave us with.
These include the importance of remaining in touch
with your heritage throughout life,
always trying to greet the world
with a smiling face and an open mind
and prioritizing the pursuit of peace
above nearly all else.
Thanks for watching, see you guys next time.
(upbeat music)