Book Description
Twice Israel’s prime minister, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, bold leader in a war-torn region, Shimon Peres is one of the great statesmen of the modern world. Peres is also a fascinating, complex man–a brilliant intellectual who is entirely at home in the corridors of power; an individual revered by the world and yet highly controversial in his own country; at once a hero and a figure of tragedy. Now, in this definitive biography, Michael Bar-Zohar takes the full measure of a towering, enigmatic leader.

Drawing on his decades-long association with Peres, as well as the full cooperation of the leader’s family, friends, supporters, and political rivals, Bar-Zohar has crafted a vibrant, daring, richly textured portrait of a man whose life and career span the entire history of Israel. Born in Poland in 1923, Peres emigrated to the Holy Land at the age of twelve, already a fiercely idealistic Zionist. Peres joined a kibbutz and, while still in his teens, became the leader of a major youth movement. When the struggle for Israeli independence broke out, future prime minister David Ben-Gurion tapped him to join his inner circle.

As director general of the Defense Ministry under Ben-Gurion, Peres spearheaded a far-reaching campaign to turn Israel into a major military power. He jump-started Israel’s aircraft industry, forged a secret alliance with France, and successfully pursued his dream of making Israel a nuclear power. And yet Peres’s real triumph came not as a man of war but as a peacemaker.

Elected prime minister in 1984, Peres brought new hope by pulling Israeli troops out of the quagmire in Lebanon, defusing tensions with Jordan, and, at the risk of his own political future, making serious overtures to the Palestinians. Peres and his longtime rival Yitzhak Rabin together secured the top-secret Oslo Accords of 1993, which won them and Yasser Arafat the Nobel Peace Prize–only to see the hope of peace shattered in a resurgence of regional violence.

In a half-century of leadership, Peres has worked beside–or fought against–such giants as Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon, and, tragically, Rabin, who was slain at the rally that marked his reconciliation with Peres. Still powerful in his eighties, Peres stands as a true hero, a visionary who embodies the history of his nation. In this stunning, courageously frank, and scrupulously factual biography, Michael Bar-Zohar gives an eminent man his due. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Peres and Bar-Zohar Commendations
Political leaders biographies written by friends are usually dull proproganda that omit many unfavorable facts. So I purchased SHIMON PERES with a lot of skepticism and trepidation. But the author Bar-Zohar has avoided this common mistake and in doing sohas proven the value and rewards for the reader.Peres agreeing not to involve himself in the work until completion combined with Bar-Zohar's well-documented, tireless research resulted in a work worth reading.Sometimes Iwinced as I read aboutPeres'
journey or groaned when I read about his actions and decisions.With dogged determinationthroughout his life, it is not a surprise that Peres would eventually become Israel's President. Entering Peres world did not endear this reader to him but increased myrespect for a man who is committed to the survival and strength of Israel. I applaud Peres for challenging Bar-Zohar to document his life and mostly Bar-Zohar for ferreting out the facts that informed and created Peres' life. This book is a timeless, honest contribution to political history that anyone--from a gardener to a president-- should read and addtotheir library.

The Most Hated Politician In Israel
People outside Israel are constantly amazed at how a man
with such a reputation as Shimon Peres has been defeated in
every secret-ballot election he has run in.The answer is
simple: whereas outside Israel, Peres has benefitted from the
well-oiled public relations campaign he has cultivated for
years by playing up to various writers, artists and, most
importantly, international financial barons, Israelis had to endure the
most horrific period of mass bloodshed, leading to THOUSANDS
of dead and wounded which Peres' inflicted on the country by
way of his disastrous Olso Agreements
with Arafat.
It was the murdered Yitzhak Rabin who described his perenniel
rival and sometimes partner, Shimon Peres, the best:
"the inveterate underminer" (quoted from Rabin's autobiography).
Peres is the quintessential politician who has no charisma
or ideas of his own (although he has tried to build and
image of himself as an "intellectual", statements he makes when
he has not been prepped by handlers show him to be woefully
ignorant), but who works hard, harder than any
of his rivals, and through endless intrigues,
makes sure to place people loyal to him in positions of
power and influence, so that when the time comes and he decides
to make his move for power, those who oppose him are strongarmed
(or worse) out of his way.
Peres played a major role in building Israel's defense establishment
and defense industries, and in addition served an outstanding
term as Prime Minister in the years 1984-1986, but this wasn't enough for his immense ego.
He wanted international recognition as a "statesman", and in
a world largely hostile to the idea of a "Jewish State", he
came to realize that true international approbriation comes NOT to Israelis
like Ben-Gurion, Eshkol or Golda Meir, who built up Israel, but rather
to those who begin to dismantle it. It truly galled him that his
Likud opposite number Menachem Begin won the so-called Nobel "Peace" Prize
for destroying Jewish communities in the Sinai and giving up Israel's only supply of oil to Sadat who had no intention of honoring his "Peace" agreement with Israel, so he decided to outdo Begin by bringing mass-murderer Yasser Arafat and his terrorist gangs to Israel, giving them money, weapons, and territory from which to attack Israel. Peres denounced
those who did not fall into his trap as "murderers of peace", "fascists", and the such. Peres managed to convince, bribe or threaten enough Knesset members to support this madness and got the Israeli government to carry out this suicidal policy. Sure enough, Arafat launched his long-awaited terrorist war in September 2000 and it has claimed, as I pointed out above,THOUSANDS of Israeli dead and wounded. Yet, in spite of this, there is not a single word of regret of remorse from Peres and he still sits near the pinnnacle of power.
Peres has lost, to the best of my knowledge, every single secret-ballot election (either to the Prime Ministership, Presidencyor the leadership of the Labor Party) he ever ran in where he was opposed by a serious candidate. However, in open votes, he fairs better because those who openly oppose him, often fall victim to police investigations, criminal proceedings (whether they are actually guilty of
anything is irrelevant), slander in the media or worse.
If you really are interested in finding out about Peres' influence on Israeli politics,
I strongly urge you to read Rabin's autobiography. That will give a much
clearer view of this man.

Author Michael Bar-Zohar does include criticism of Peres in the book,
but Bar-Zohar is a member of the veteran "MAPAI" (i.e. secular, formerly
Marxist/Socialist Ashkenazi) establishment and so he really is not
going to be objective, since his group wholeheartedly embraced
Peres' policy of importing terrorists to Israel and "de-Zionizing"
of the Jewish state.Thus, one should not expect all the truth, as I
have outlined it above, to come out of this book.

A remarkable man-a remarkable book
This book is a page turner which is no small feat for a biography. I learned so much about the man, Peres, and about his country. Between this book and Bar-Zohar's book on Ben Gurion, one gets a comprehensive and extremely readable history of the founding and history of Israel.
To say that Peres is a complex but fascinating man is an understatement. One minute you are cheering for him and the next scratching your head about his crazy ideas like the founding of a Jewish colony in French Guyana.
Early in his life Peres thought he would be content to be a farmer on a kibbutz. Fortunately for Israel, Ben Gurion recognized Peres unique visionary abilities and challenged him in multiple ways-to find weapons for Israel, first in France, then Germany; to build cities where none had been before, to build a nuclear reactor, and to build Israel's defense system from the ground up. Bar Zohar repeatedly refers to Peres as Mr. Security and documents how almost all of Peres choices and decisions have been motivated from that perspective. In contrast to his genious, Peres tendency to sabatoge himself politically makes one wonder what he could have done if he had been a master politician in addition to being a great stateman. In the end, one has to admire what this one man has done and will continue to do to for his homeland, Israel. The value of his contributions can not be overestimated.
This is a great book, one of the best that I have ever read. Bat Zohar is a meticulous historian and a great story teller. This book, Shimon Peres, is required reading for anyone interested in Israel, her leaders, and the history of the most important democracy in the Middle East.

Bar-Zohar Scores with Peres
This revealing, no holds barred biographic work is a tell all of one of the great statesmen of our time. Bar-Zohar presents it all and gets inside this very private persons life history. Reads like a novel but with documented facts and references.
Should be in every reader's library!

The story of a pioneer and visionary Israeli politiican and senior world statesman
Shimon Peres is today the world's senior statesman. He has been in the center of Israel politics for close to sixty years. As a young assistant of Ben- Gurion he made critical contributions to Israel's early struggles for independence and survival. It was Peres more than anyone else who formed the Franco-Israeli alliance key to the 56' Sinai Campaign. It was Peres who initiated the program of cooperation with France which led to the Dimona nuclear reactor project.
Peres in his early years was Mr. Security, and contributed greatly to the building of Israel's Army and power of deterrence.
Peres has always been a person of vision and ideas. In fact the writer Amos Oz is quoted by Bar- Zohar as saying that Peres had more 'vision' than any other Israeli leader including Ben- Gurion.
This capacity for dreaming great dreams has however often gotten Peres in trouble with the Israeli public. The most conspicuous example of this is the Oslo Peace process which he is considered to be a principal architect of. There was great hope in 1993 when Peres and Rabin signed a peace treaty on the White House lawn with Arafat. But since then the whole process has unraveled , and is considered now to have been a major mistake in Israeli policy.
Bar-Zohar tells ofthe paradoxical qualities of Peres who has time and again lost critical elections which appeared at first to be in the bag. This is the Peres who twice was an excellent Prime Minister of Israel and also served throughout his long career as Defense Minister, Transport Minister, Information Minister, and more.
This biography opens with a dramatic scene at Ichilov hospital after the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. Peres the long-time rival and at this point ally of Rabin is called upon again in the critical moment to serve Israel. He does it with responsibility, and decisiveness of a kind which often makes him enemies.
This detailed story of one person really tells the history of modern Israel . Peres after all has been involved in so many crucial decisions whether for right, in his urging the Entebbe rescue operation, or for wrong in his opposing Begin's bombing of the nuclear reactor in Iraq.
In his ninth decade and still going strong as Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Peres is candidate for the largely ceremonial role of the Israeli Presidency.
This is the story of a devoted, courageous responsible visionary Israeli and human being, who has made many mistakes in his life. These mistakes as Bar- Zohar amply makes clear have been more than cancelled out by his remarkable contribution to the building of modern Israel.
This is a highly recommended wonderfully readable biography.
... Read more

Book Description
Certain to fascinate anyone intrigued about the future of the Middle East, these revealing memoirs of Shimon Peres, former Israeli Minister of Defense and winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, tell of his relationships with Golda Meir, David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, and others whom he encountered during his amazing career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Better To Read What Rabin Said About Peres...
It was the murdered Yitzhak Rabin who described his perenniel
rival and sometimes partner, Shimon Peres, the best:
"the inveterate underminer" (quoted from Rabin's autobiography).
Peres is the quientessential politician who has no charisma
or ideas of his own, but who works hard, harder than any
of his rivals,and through endless intrigues,
makes sure to place people loyal to him in positions of
power and influence, so that when the time comes and he decides
to make his move for power, those who oppose him are strongarmed
(or worse) out of his way.
Peres played a major role in building Israel's defense establishment
and defense industries, and in addition served an outstanding
term as Prime Minister in the years 1984-1986, but this wasn't enough for his immense ego.
He wanted international recognition as a "statesman", and in
a world largely hostile to the idea of a "Jewish State", he
came to realize that true international approbriation comes NOT to Israelis
like Ben-Gurion, Eshkol or Golda Meir, who built up Israel, but rather
to those who begin to dismantle it.It truly galled him that his
Likud opposite number Menachem Begin won the so-called Nobel "Peace" Prize
for destroying Jewish communities in the Sinai and giving up Israel's only supply of oil to Sadat who had no intention of honoring his "Peace" agreement with Israel, so he decided to outdo Begin by bringing mass-murderer Yasser Arafat and his terrorist gangs to Israel, giving them money, weapons, and territory from which to attack Israel. Peres denounced
those who did not fall into his trap as "murderers of peace", "fascists", and the such.Peres managed to convince, bribe or threaten enough Knesset members to support this madness and got the Israeli government to carry out this suicidal policy. Sure enough, Arafat launched his long-awaited terrorist war in September 2000 and it has claimed THOUSANDS of Israeli dead and wounded. Yet, in spite of this, there is not a single word of regret of remorse from Peres and he still sits near the pinnnacle of power.
Peres has lost, to the best of my knowledge, every single secret-ballot election (either to the Knesset or the leadership of the Labor Party) he ever ran in where he was opposed by a serious candidate.However, in open votes, he fairs better because those who openly oppose him, often fall victim to police investigations, criminal proceedings (whether they are actually guilty of
anything is irrelevant), slander in the media or worse.
If you really are interested in finding out about Peres' influence on Israeli politics,
I strongly urge you to read Rabin's autobiography. That will give a much
clearer view of this man.

Battling for Credibility
Is Israel's perennial loser perhaps a winner after all? It is said that people take comfort from the setbacks of others and after his failure to win any election making him PM it would be easy to write off Shimon Peres.

His autobiography "Battling for Peace" shows how a very ambitious politician uses reverses to strengthen his political backbone.

Peres describes his early childhood in Poland, his emigration to Palestine and his political progress which started even while he was on a Kibbutz.

Peres has been at the core of world politics for half a century and has met all other leaders of significance and his pen portraits especially of Mitterand Nixon and Clinton are most entertaining.

The Olso process is reported in detail and this book is a must for anybody who wishes to acquaint temselves with the twisting currents of events in the Middle East.

The book is obviously only an interim Report as it predates Rabins assassination. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An amazing magic trick
This book is pretty much an official Zionist version of the history of the area as one will find. It has a forward by one of the high ranking members of the zionist brigrade - Shimon Peres.

Several things surprised me about the book :

1) How much of the history of this land seems to be taken from the Old Testament! Where is the verification of any of these supposed facts? What about critical analysis of the Old Testament? Perhaps the authors had axes to grind. This leads onto point 2)

2) How little verifiable data there is on the land from these times. Despite this one still can realise point 3)

3) The mulitcultural nature of the Holy Land throughout time.

The book also seems to imply that in the Roman era the Jews were only thrown out of Jerusalem and not the entire Holy Land. Before reading the book, I had had the impression that the Jews had been the only people, almost without exclusion, living in the Holy Land from antiquity to year O. How wrong I was!

Of note for Muslims are the evidences given that early in the Islamic era Muslims would make an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which is interesting given the discussion over Bekka (Mecca is not mentioned as the place of pilgrimage in the Quran, Bekka is)

The book does an amazing magic trick at the end where it makes the Arabs disappear and replaces them with 'Israelis'. This leads to the happy ending where everyone lives happily ever after. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from APS Diplomat Recorder, published by Pam Stein/Input Solutions on December 4, 2004. The length of the article is 799 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: JORDAN - Dec 2 - Sharon Focuses On Partnership With Peres.(Ariel Sharon)(Shimon Peres)
Publication: APS Diplomat Recorder (Newsletter)
Date: December 4, 2004
Publisher: Pam Stein/Input Solutions
Volume: 61Issue: 22

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This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Thomson Gale on August 15, 2004. The length of the article is 604 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Retirada a todo fuego: una alianza finalmente explicable.(alianza entre el primer ministro israelí Ariel Sharon, el político opositor Shimon Peres)
Author: Carlos Guevara Meza
Publication: Siempre! (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 15, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 51Issue: 2670Page: 55(1)

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This digital document is an article from Washington Monthly, published by Washington Monthly Company on November 1, 1989. The length of the article is 844 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Road to Peace: A Biography of Shimon Peres. (book reviews)
Author: Murray Polner
Publication: Washington Monthly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 1989
Publisher: Washington Monthly Company
Volume: v21Issue: n10Page: p55(2)

Article Type: Book Review, Bibliography, Biography

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This digital document is an article from APS Diplomat Recorder, published by Pam Stein/Input Solutions on November 3, 2001. The length of the article is 688 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct. 30 - Peres To Meet Arafat.(Shimon Peres, Yasir Arafat)(Brief Article)
Publication: APS Diplomat Recorder (Newsletter)
Date: November 3, 2001
Publisher: Pam Stein/Input Solutions
Volume: 55Issue: 18Page: NA

Article Type: Brief Article

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This digital document is an article from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc. on May 1, 1996. The length of the article is 1411 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Israel Prime Minister Shimon Peres headed the development of Israel's nuclear weapons program and policy. Peres supported the use of nuclear weapons to achieve Israel's objectives in the late 1960s, but changed his position after the 1978 peace accord with Egypt.

Citation Details
Title: Peres: peacemaker, nuclear pioneer. (Israel Prime Minister Shimon Peres)
Author: Avner Cohen
Publication: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 1996
Publisher: Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc.
Volume: v52Issue: n3Page: p16(2)

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This digital document is an article from APS Diplomat Recorder, published by Pam Stein/Input Solutions on November 10, 2001. The length of the article is 338 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ARABS-ISRAEL - Nov. 5 - Arafat-Peres Meet.(Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, Israeli leader Shimon Peres)(Brief Article)
Publication: APS Diplomat Recorder (Newsletter)
Date: November 10, 2001
Publisher: Pam Stein/Input Solutions
Volume: 55Issue: 19Page: NA

Article Type: Brief Article

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This digital document, covering the life and work of Shimon Peres, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1055 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description
This digital document is an article from APS Diplomat Recorder, published by Pam Stein/Input Solutions on August 21, 2004. The length of the article is 613 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ISRAEL - Aug 19 - Shimon Peres Backs Early Elections.
Publication: APS Diplomat Recorder (Newsletter)
Date: August 21, 2004
Publisher: Pam Stein/Input Solutions
Volume: 61Issue: 7

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This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on February 12, 1998. The length of the article is 947 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: De la imaginación en la política. (Shimon Peres, exprimer ministro israelí)(TT: Imagination in politics) (TA: Shimon Peres, former Israeli prime minister)(Interview)
Author: José Gordon
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: February 12, 1998
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: v44Issue: n2330Page: p59(1)

Article Type: Interview

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This digital document is an article from APS Diplomat Recorder, published by Pam Stein/Input Solutions on November 17, 2001. The length of the article is 345 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ARABS-ISRAEL - Nov. 15 - Peres Addresses UN General Assembly.(political leader Shimon Peres)(Brief Article)
Publication: APS Diplomat Recorder (Newsletter)
Date: November 17, 2001
Publisher: Pam Stein/Input Solutions
Volume: 55Issue: 20Page: NA

Article Type: Brief Article

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This digital document is an article from Arena Magazine, published by Arena Printing and Publications Pty. Ltd. on June 1, 2001. The length of the article is 490 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: MAN OF PEACE? ... JEREMY SALT QUERIES THE PERES AGENDA.(Israel's Prime Minister Shimon Peres)(Brief Article)
Publication: Arena Magazine (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 2001
Publisher: Arena Printing and Publications Pty. Ltd.
Page: 15

Article Type: Brief Article

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