PERES, Shimon (Peres Shimon)

(p. 1923)
Born August 16, 1923 in Volozine (Poland; sovr. Volozhin, Belarus). At the age of ten with his parents moved to Palestine. As a teenager joined the movement Khagani. Worked in the State of Israel was created after the Defense Ministry, was sent to the U.S. in the first mission for the purchase of arms.
In 1953, Peres became CEO of the Ministry of Defense. Convince our colleagues to buy weapons in France and participated in the planning of the Anglo-Franco-Israeli military campaign in the Suez Canal Zone in October 1956. Was first elected to the Knesset on the list of Mapai (Israel Workers Party) in 1959. In 1965 he resigned and joined the D.Ben-Gurion to establish a new party, the opposition to Prime Minister Eshkol L.. He has held several posts in the cabinet of Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin conceded the election of her successor in 1974. In the same year, Rabin, Peres appointed Minister of Defense. In 1977, Peres succeeded Rabin as chairman of the Labor Party, twice defeated in the elections, Prime Minister of M. Begin

. After the election of 1984, . which resulted in an impasse, . Perez agreed with Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir to form a government 'national unity' on the condition, . that Peres would serve as Prime Minister of the first two years, . and Shamir take this post the second two years,
. In 1988, after yet another political deadlock, the agreement was renewed, and Shamir retained the post of Prime Minister. After the collapse of the coalition in 1989, Peres and Shamir concluded an alliance with right-wing religious parties, hoping to get their support. Shamir has a little more than Perez, but the latter retained control of the Labor Party, which went into opposition. In February 1992, at the election party leader before the general elections, Peres lost to Rabin. When Rabin became prime minister in June 1992, Peres was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1993 Perez reached an agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on the establishment of Palestinian autonomy. Together with Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, Peres was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1994.

After the assassination of Rabin in November 1995, Peres became Prime Minister. At first in Israel direct general elections, Prime Minister in May 1996 gave the candidate of the Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu. Vacated Labor Party leader in June 1997, but remained a member of the Knesset. In 2001 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. Perez - author of more than a dozen books, many of which are devoted to the Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Battle for Peace: Memoirs (1995), for the Future of Israel (1998), etc.