no matter which way the wind was blowing. Whether you agree or disagree with him he was proud of his vision for the country and was instrumental in it's formation. Zichrono Livracha- may his memory be for a blessing.
RE: Yep a great man who never compromised his principles Â
no matter which way the wind was blowing. Whether you agree or disagree with him he was proud of his vision for the country and was instrumental in it's formation. Zichrono Livracha- may his memory be for a blessing.
Comments like this do a disservice to the hard work of peace making and compromise. I can assure you that in making peace with Arafat and elevating the PLO at Oslo, Peres compromised some of his principles in service of others. So what?
no matter which way the wind was blowing. Whether you agree or disagree with him he was proud of his vision for the country and was instrumental in it's formation. Zichrono Livracha- may his memory be for a blessing.
Comments like this do a disservice to the hard work of peace making and compromise. I can assure you that in making peace with Arafat and elevating the PLO at Oslo, Peres compromised some of his principles in service of others. So what?
RIP. Here's a link to a funny Peres video. Link - ( New Window )
+1
Peres, who as Minister of Defense in the earlier years was responsible for building the IDF, Rabin the consummate soldier, same for Moshe Dayan and Ezer Weizmann who built the air force all came around to recognizing the need for compromise to achieve piece.
Some of that invariably involved some principles, not just territory and military positions.
He was a revolutionary and one of the heroic founders of Israel Â
my point was that he was dedicated to peace throughout his political career and lost multiple elections because of it. To me that is being dedicated to your principles. I admire him greatly and all the work he and others such as Rabin did to try and make peace happen.
As an Arab American I have always admired Peres and the Israeli democracy he helped to forge and sustain. In a region dominated by radicals, self-serving and self-promoting despots, corrupt politicians and religious fanatics, a leader like Peres stood out for his commitment to his nation and eventually to trying to forge a peace that would end the hostility. Even for those who disagreed with his positions on the Middle East peace process, it is impossible to question his principles and his commitment to serve his country. The last 68 years of violence in the region and the continuing conflict that devours the region is evidence of just how rare an individual he was.
As an Arab American I have always admired Peres and the Israeli democracy he helped to forge and sustain. In a region dominated by radicals, self-serving and self-promoting despots, corrupt politicians and religious fanatics, a leader like Peres stood out for his commitment to his nation and eventually to trying to forge a peace that would end the hostility. Even for those who disagreed with his positions on the Middle East peace process, it is impossible to question his principles and his commitment to serve his country. The last 68 years of violence in the region and the continuing conflict that devours the region is evidence of just how rare an individual he was.
Jeffrey I agree to a point. Actually implicitly you are making the point I would make. Yes we lack visionaries who take bold steps toward peace like Sadat and Rabin and Peres. But what is the best hope is the buttressing democratic *institutions* like the Israeli Supreme Court. These institutions are fragile at best in the region and where they exist are constantly under attack (yes, even in Israel).
He lost elections because he wasnt a great candidate Â
no military service, personally was the erudite, poetic European type in a country full of blunt sabras (our Israeli posters can better speak to this). And he was possibly too political. As the Washington Post notes in his obit:
Quote:
Yet Mr. Peres left a complex legacy. At every stage in his political career, the European-born Mr. Peres had to fight the sense that he was insincere, consummately political and opportunistic. He never passed for an Israeli-born sabra and always seemed to be slightly removed from the country he led.
His Hebrew was tinged with a Polish accent, and his florid rhetorical style was at odds with Israeli directness. Israelis commented that even his carefully combed hairstyle seemed somehow European. He was never a combat soldier or an officer in the Israeli army, which he would later head as defense minister. The late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, his longtime rival, once called him an “inveterate schemer.”
The real man is very interesting. A good man but not an angel. Frankly, as an American Jew I've always found the major Israeli political figures of that era to be fascinating. The Bibi/Olmert era started to get a lot less interesting to me. I'd like to find a good book about them. Link - ( New Window )
"It's up to us as the last of our generation to make the peace deal with the Palestinians" or words to that effect. And then Sharon had a stroke and that was that. Now all of Israel's founding fathers are gone.
Comments like this do a disservice to the hard work of peace making and compromise. I can assure you that in making peace with Arafat and elevating the PLO at Oslo, Peres compromised some of his principles in service of others. So what?
RIP. Here's a link to a funny Peres video.
Link - ( New Window )
Quote:
no matter which way the wind was blowing. Whether you agree or disagree with him he was proud of his vision for the country and was instrumental in it's formation. Zichrono Livracha- may his memory be for a blessing.
Comments like this do a disservice to the hard work of peace making and compromise. I can assure you that in making peace with Arafat and elevating the PLO at Oslo, Peres compromised some of his principles in service of others. So what?
RIP. Here's a link to a funny Peres video. Link - ( New Window )
+1
Peres, who as Minister of Defense in the earlier years was responsible for building the IDF, Rabin the consummate soldier, same for Moshe Dayan and Ezer Weizmann who built the air force all came around to recognizing the need for compromise to achieve piece.
Some of that invariably involved some principles, not just territory and military positions.
His biggest strength was that he was a realist instead of an ideologue or religious zealot.
Jeffrey I agree to a point. Actually implicitly you are making the point I would make. Yes we lack visionaries who take bold steps toward peace like Sadat and Rabin and Peres. But what is the best hope is the buttressing democratic *institutions* like the Israeli Supreme Court. These institutions are fragile at best in the region and where they exist are constantly under attack (yes, even in Israel).
His Hebrew was tinged with a Polish accent, and his florid rhetorical style was at odds with Israeli directness. Israelis commented that even his carefully combed hairstyle seemed somehow European. He was never a combat soldier or an officer in the Israeli army, which he would later head as defense minister. The late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, his longtime rival, once called him an “inveterate schemer.”
The real man is very interesting. A good man but not an angel. Frankly, as an American Jew I've always found the major Israeli political figures of that era to be fascinating. The Bibi/Olmert era started to get a lot less interesting to me. I'd like to find a good book about them.
Link - ( New Window )