Shimon Peres Is Born in Belarus
August 2, 1923
The only politician in Israeli history to hold the positions of both President and Prime Minister, Peres is born in what is now Belarus to Yitzchak and Sara Perski. Immigrating to British Mandate Palestine in 1934, Peres settles with his family in Tel Aviv, and attends Balfour Elementary school. At the age of 14, he studies in the agricultural school Ben Shemen. A founder of Kibbutz Alumot in the Galilee, Peres is elected secretary of the Ha’Noar Ha’oved Ve’ha’lomed Labor Zionist youth movement in 1941, where he begins his career as an organizer and integral member of the Labor political movement in Israel.
In 1947, Peres Joins the Haganah, which puts him in charge of managing manpower and arms purchases. He then serves as head of naval services during and immediately after the War of Independence once the Israel Defense Forces are established. In 1952, after heading the Defense Ministry’s delegation to the United States, he joins the Ministry of Defense, where after one year he is appointed as director-general, a position he holds until 1959. During this period, he is credited with building a relationship with France surrounding the 1956 Sinai Campaign and helping establish Israel’s nuclear program, most of which is the result of French aid and technology.
In 1959, Peres is elected to the Knesset for the first time. He serves in the Knesset longer than anyone in Israel’s history, at various times serving as minister of immigrant absorption, minister of transportation, deputy defense minister, defense minister, finance minister and foreign minister. In 1977, after the resignation of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, he serves as acting prime minister for three months. He then serves as prime minister from 1984 to 1986 and again from November 1995 until June 1996. In June 2007 he is elected Israel’s ninth president, a position he holds until July 2014.
In 1994, together with Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, Peres is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for reaching the Oslo Accords.