Opinions

Shimon Peres: peacemaker or war-enthusiast?

It’s a controversial date in history — May 14, 1948  — the day Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine, calling the newly created nation “Israel.”

However, a night that was supposed to be filled with cheers was interrupted by an air assault on Israel from Egyptian military forces. Leaders across the Arab world were enraged that the Arab-filled, sovereign state of Palestine was being taken over by Zionists — Jewish people following a political movement for the re-establishment of a Jewish nation in historical Palestine.

With the recent death of Shimon Peres, one of the founding pillars who helped make Israel a military force to be reckoned with, it’s important to realize his role in the evolution of the Jewish state. While many world leaders may deem the man a “peacemaker,” it’s important to note Peres was obsessed with weaponizing Israel as much as he could.

News agencies like CNN are proclaiming Peres was a warrior for peace when the man was actually just an aspiring warrior whose aim was to make the Israeli military unstoppable. Peres yearned to make the nation nuclear – which in itself is far from peaceful.

The 1948 Arab-Israeli War showcased Peres’ first steps toward strengthening the Israeli military. Though Ben-Gurion barred Peres from making military commands, Peres was responsible for acquiring weapons for the newly-created Israeli army.

Now, one might argue that Peres was merely defending the right to Israel’s existence and his advocacy for war was a vital action. However, after the Arab-Israeli War only came more conflict. If Peres’ plan was to help Israel win a war in order to prevent other wars, his actions turned out to be an utter failure.

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War came to an end and Israel proved victorious against its Arab opponents, tensions between Israel and the Arab world only worsened. Peres developed alliances with western nations France and Britain, which would eventually help Israel build nuclear weapons. The three powers invaded Egypt in October 1956.

The reason why? Israeli officials wanted to take the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nassar, out of power. Britain and France didn’t want to lose their control of the Suez Canal Company, which the Egyptian president threatened to nationalize, according to the United States Office of the Historian.

The invasion now notoriously known as the Suez Canal crisis turned out to be a failure for the three powers. The United Nations saw the attack as completely unnecessary and forced them to withdraw from Egypt.

Looking back at Peres’ involvement in militaristic events is rather bleak — the man was not a force for accord, but rather just a leader with the connections necessary to make Israel an intimidating force.

Now, Peres did lead a very long and impressive political life. Not only was Peres the prime minister of the Jewish state twice, but he also served Israel in several leadership positions throughout his political career – which spanned several decades.

Although Peres was seen as a kind-of pacifist by western leaders, he was far from being “loved” by the Israeli nation. According to a New York Times column titled “Shimon Peres, the Realist Dreamer” by prominent Israeli politician Tzipi Livini, “The affection he found abroad and his unflagging personal convictions gave him strength to face the powerful criticisms and hatred that were leveled at him at home.”

As more Jewish immigrants migrated to Israel from Arab countries, Peres and other Jewish leaders of Ashkenazi descent, Jewish people of central and eastern European parentage, began to lack appeal to the Israeli population.

With reason, the Ashkenazi elite which legitimized the creation of Israel were privileged folk, while many non-European Jews often came from challenging backgrounds.

As a war-enthusiast, Peres succeeded in making Israel a nuclear force but as a politician he failed to relate with the many non-white ethnic divisions in Israel.

For instance, in the 1990’s, Peres asked a Labor Party convention, “Mah—ani loozer?” which translates to, “What am I, a loser?”

“Yes!” the delegates in the masses hollered back at his rhetorical question.

The event clearly showcased the lack of respect and esteem from the Israeli nation he helped militarize substantially. Although his political presence lasted for years on end, it wasn’t because he was a beloved figure. It was more about his egotistical want to continue governing affairs in the Jewish State – a state that stopped caring for him several years before his death.

Still, the reason many western leaders appreciate the politician’s lifetime work is because of what seemed like a deep desire to reach a two-state solution between Israel and the neighboring Palestinian territories through the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords.

But his political motives seem to contradict — in the 1970’s, while he was defence minister, Peres campaigned to establish illegal settlements in the West Bank — a territory which belongs to Palestine.

His slogan for this campaign was “settlements everywhere.”

Shimon Peres’ death is being mourned by world leaders everywhere; however, it’s important to realize what role he played as a politician, which was not a peace-maker, but rather just another politician who didn’t mind a little war — or in his case, a lot.

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