Source

(born Aug. 16, 1923, Wolozyn, Pol.) Polish-born Israeli statesman. He immigrated to Palestine with his family in 1934 and joined the Haganah organization in 1947. After Israel achieved independence, he held a number of positions in the defense establishment (1948 – 65). In 1968 he helped establish the Israel Labour Party. The indecisive 1984 election led to a power-sharing arrangement with Likud candidate Yitzhak Shamir, the two men alternating as prime minister. During Peres's tenure (1984 – 86), Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon (see Lebanese civil war). He was foreign minister under Yitzhak Rabin (1992 – 95); Peres, Rabin, and Palestinian leader Yasir 'Arafat shared the 1994 Nobel Prize for Peace. Peres became prime minister again upon Rabin's assassination in 1995 but was narrowly defeated in his bid for reelection by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996. Although Peres declined to seek reelection as leader of the Labour Party in 1997, he later served as foreign minister (2001 – 02), deputy prime minister (2001 – 02), and vice prime minister (2005) in the national unity government led by Likud's Ariel Sharon. In 2003 Peres resumed the chair of the Labour Party but was unexpectedly defeated in the party's leadership election in 2005. He subsequently left the Labour Party to join the centrist party Kadima. In 2007 Peres was elected president of Israel, a largely ceremonial post.