Quick Facts: Shimon Peres

• Shimon Peres was born Szymon Perski in 1923 in Belarus, then part of Poland, before immigrating to Palestine, then under British Mandate, in 1934.
• In 1948, Peres worked to supply weapons to the Israeli army and its forerunner, the Haganah, during Israel’s establishment, which were used to ethnically cleanse upwards of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes in order to create a Jewish majority state.
• In 1956, as Director-General of the Ministry of Defense, Peres was responsible for planning Israel’s invasion of Egypt, in conjunction with Britain and France, during the Suez Crisis. Following pressure from the United States, Israel was forced to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula, which it occupied during the attack.
• During the 1950s and 1960s, Peres played a central role in Israel’s secret nuclear program and development of atomic weapons.
• In the 1970s, as Minister of Defense, Peres was a key figure in the start of Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territories, overseeing the establishment of some of the first settlements in the West Bank.
• Also during the 1970s, Peres worked closely with apartheid South Africa, helping it acquire arms and develop nuclear weapons while much of the rest of the world was attempting to isolate the racist white regime.
• In 1996, while Peres was prime minister, Israel bombed a UN compound in the village of Qana in Southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 civilians who were seeking shelter there, and injuring more than 100 others. The UN and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), condemned what became know as the “Qana Massacre” as a violation of international law. In its report on the incident, Amnesty determined that Israel “intentionally attacked the UN compound,” while HRW stated that the Qana bombing and other Israeli attacks in Lebanon during “Operation Grapes of Wrath” raised “grave concerns about Israel’s compliance with the laws of war.”

Diana Buttu, Ramallah-based political analyst, former advisor to Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian negotiators:

“Before anyone praises Peres and his long career in Israeli politics, one must think first about the many victims of his political travails.

“He bears direct responsibility for the establishment of Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise on stolen Palestinian land, which today has all but destroyed the two-state solution that has been the cornerstone of international efforts to make peace in the region for decades. His collaboration with apartheid South Africa’s helped that racist regime develop nuclear weapons and stay in power while much of the world was attempting ostracize it.

“As prime minster, he unabashedly launched an attack on Lebanon causing 400,000 Lebanese to flee their homes and then bombed a UN compound with nearly 800 civilians inside, killing more than 100 and wounding many more. His actions made it acceptable, indeed commonplace, for Israel to bomb UN buildings and schools, as it did repeatedly most recently during its 2014 attack on Gaza. Rather than apologize or show contrition for the Qana Massacre, even after Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the UN condemned it as a violation of international law, including for the Israeli army’s use of weaponry designed to maximize injuries, Peres responded, ‘I am at peace.’

“Peres was an unrepentant war criminal and should be memorialized as such.”

Yousef Munayyer, Political analyst at the Arab Center of Washington, DC, executive director of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and former executive director of the Jerusalem Fund and Palestine Center:

“Peres’ impact, particularly as Israeli Defense Minister in the 1970s and again in the mid-1990s as Prime Minister, left an indelible mark on the mess that is Israel/Palestine today. Palestinians will recall Peres’ contributions to the illegal Israeli settlements that took root under his watch including Maale Addumim, the largest Israeli colony today and perhaps the single greatest geographic obstacle to a contiguous Palestinian state. Lebanese will recall his role as Prime Minister in 1996 when Israel bombed a UN compound housing fleeing refugees killing over 100 Lebanese civilians. Black South Africans will recall the central role he played in arming the Apartheid regime and helping it develop nuclear weapons. Indeed the government sanctioned yearbook of the Apartheid South African regime reflected on this golden era of Israeli-South Africa relations stating: ‘Israel and South Africa have one thing above all else in common: they are both situated in a predominantly hostile world inhabited by dark peoples.’ Remembrances of Shimon Peres may very well be divided along similar lines.”

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