AP News, June 13th, 2007
A brief glance at the life and accomplishments of Shimon Peres:
BORN: Poland, Aug. 2, 1923.
POLITICAL HISTORY: Peres became director of the Defense Ministry at the age of 25 and spearheaded the development of Israel's nuclear program. He was elected to parliament on the Labor Party ticket in 1959. Since then he has held a succession of senior posts, including the defense, finance and foreign affairs portfolios.
He also has served three brief stints as prime minister, but never won a general election.
He was first propelled into the premiership in a caretaker role in 1977 when incumbent Yitzhak Rabin resigned. Between 1984 and 1986 Peres and political opponent Yitzhak Shamir each took two-year turns in the premiership after a general election failed to produce a clear winner.
Peres found himself unexpectedly replacing the re-elected Rabin once again after Rabin was gunned down by a political assassin in 1995. That term ended with his 1996 election defeat by Benjamin Netanyahu.
In 2000 he lost the presidency to Moshe Katsav, who currently stands accused of sex crimes.
In 2005, Peres bolted Labor to join Kadima _ a party founded by his longtime friend and political rival, Ariel Sharon, serving as vice premier under Sharon and his successor, Ehud Olmert.
PUBLIC PERCEPTION: Peres shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Though welcomed by world leaders wherever he goes abroad, at home he is widely seen as aloof and cerebral on the one hand and a tricky politician on the other, while lacking the military command experience that seems to reassure voters.
FAMILY: He is married to Sonya, is the father of three, grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of two.
IS THIS THE END? Peres will be sworn into office on July 15 for a seven-year term. He has said the presidency could be his "last chance to serve the country."
