With the death this week of Shimon Peres, Israel and the world have lost not just a great statesman. They have lost a living link to history and a tireless advocate for peace.
Peres died at age 93, two weeks after suffering a massive stroke. He was felled not at a time of retirement or repose, but in the middle of a typically busy agenda. Already in his fourth or fifth act of life, Peres met with global political figures, tech innovators and thought leaders right up until the end.
He was a true citizen of the world.
Born in 1923 in what is now Belarus, Peres moved to British Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s. By the time of the 1948 War of Independence, he was already an indispensible aide to Israel’s first prime minster, David Ben-Gurion, and other pioneers of the Jewish state.
Peres’ résumé is exceptionally impressive, not only because he served in practically every important post in Israel’s government, but that he did so for so long. President, Knesset member, minister of defense, transportation, finance and foreign affairs, and of course prime minister.
He filled those highly visible roles ably. Behind the scenes, as a negotiator, diplomat and advocate for Israel, he was just as remarkable. It was Peres who persuaded the French to assist Israel during the 1956 Suez crisis. It was Peres who spearheaded Israel’s secret effort to develop the Dimona nuclear reactor, which has been a cornerstone of Israel’s security for more than half a century.
But Peres will be best remembered as a warrior for peace. In the mid-1980s, presaging his longtime goal of reaching peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors, Peres traveled to Morocco to meet with King Hassan, a brave step in those days. He went on to share the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to broker the 1993 Oslo Accord between Israel and the Palestinians.
Still, he was not immune to controversy and public disfavor. Like any politician long in the public eye, he had his detractors and political enemies, even among his fellow Labor Party leaders. He had developed a reputation in some circles as a cold fish and uninspiring leader.
But in his last act as Israeli president and founder of the Peres Center for Peace he achieved a serenity of purpose that his whole career had been leading toward. He never wasted a minute in his quest for unity, peace and progress.
In fact, he said recently that his only regret was that he did not dream bigger.
Our Pirke Avot, or “Sayings of the Fathers,” famously advises us that we are not required to complete the task, but neither are we free to desist from it. No one better embodied those words than Shimon Peres.
May his memory ever be for a blessing.