“Shimon Peres did more with his time on Earth than most people could accomplish in 3 or 4 lifetimes.” – U.S. Representative Peter Roskam (R-Il.)
Shimon Peres, the former prime minister and president of the State of Israel, died on September 28 at the age of 93. One of the founding fathers of the Jewish state, Peres devoted his life to strengthening his nation’s defenses, its vision of prosperity, and its long-held hopes for peace.
Peres was born Szymon Perski in Vishnyeva, a small town in interwar Poland that saw nearly its entire Jewish population perish during the Holocaust. He emigrated to mandatory Palestine in 1934, spending those early years falling in love, raising a family, and witnessing the birth of a nation.
Throughout nearly seven decades of public service, Peres grew from a young protégé of Israel’s first president to a venerated statesman whose rich legacy embodied the spirit of the nation he so loved. The pictures below – remnants from long years dedicated to the service of others – offer a glimpse into an extraordinary life that will be missed and celebrated by millions across the world.
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Banner Photo: Maya Levin / Flash90
- PHOTOS: The Many LIves of Shimon Peres
A picture of young Shimon Persky (Peres) taken in Poland before his family immigrated to pre-state Israel in 1934. Photo: Government Press Office
Persky family photo, taken in 1945. Photo: Government Press Office
Peres with his wife Sonya and their first child, Tsvia, in 1946. Photo: Courtesy
MK Peres speaks with Major General Shlomo Arel at a luncheon hosted by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in August 1967. Photo: Fritz Cohen / Government Press Office
Peres with Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. Photo: Moshe Milner / Government Press Office
Left to right: MKs Peres, Yosef Burg, and Moshe Dayan speak with Prime Minister Golda Meir at the Knesset in 1973. Photo: Herman Chanania / Government Press Office
Defense Minister Peres at a 1975 Knesset ceremony with (left to right) U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and MK Shlomit Aloni. Photo: Saar Yaacov / Government Press Office
Peres with Prime Minister Golda Meir and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat during the latter’s historic 1977 visit to Israel. Photo: Yaacov Saar / Government Press Office
Prime Minister Peres speaking to a group of Ethiopian immigrants who were protesting before the chief rabbinate in Jerusalem in 1985. Photo: Harnik Nati / Government Press Office
PM Peres welcoming freed Soviet refusnik Natan (Anatoly) Sharansky to Israel as he arrives at Ben-Gurion Airport in 1986. Photo: Harnik Nati / Government Press Office
PM Peres shows U.S. President Bill Clinton how to write his first name in Hebrew during the signing of an anti-terrorism cooperation agreement at the White House in 1996. Photo: Sa‘ar Ya‘acov / Government Press Office
President Shimon Peres talks on his cell phone outside his residence, October 29, 2007. Photo: Maya Levin / Flash90
U.S. President George W. Bush with President Peres at the latter’s official residence in Jerusalem in May 2008. Photo: Amos Ben Gershom / Government Press Office
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama meets with President Peres in Israel in July 2008. Photo: Moshe Milner / Government Press Office
President Peres seen embracing Pope Francis on the red carpet at Ben-Gurion International Airport on May 25, 2014. Photo: Miriam Alster / Flash90
President Peres visits the family of IDF Golani soldier Moshe Malko in Jerusalem on July 23, 2014. Staff Sgt. Moshe Malko, 20, from Jerusalem, was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge. Photo: Yonatan Sindel / Flash90
Former President Peres visits the family of killed Israeli soldier Roy Peles during a memorial Shabbat held in Roy’s home on August 8, 2014. Roy Peles, 21, from Tel Aviv, was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge. Photo: Danielle Shitrit / Flash90
Former President Peres at the “Twinned Peace Soccer Schools” program, which was attended by Israeli and Palestinian children near Sderot on September 1, 2014. Photo: Efrat Sa’ar / Flash90
Former Israeli president Shimon Peres seen at an event marking 40 years since Operation Entebbe, held at the Peres Center for Peace in Tel Aviv. Photo: Ben Kelmer / Flash90
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