In his rejection of history, Peres also appears to give little thought to the umbilical chord linking modern Israel to Jewish history. Following his defeat in the 1996 election, Peres was interviewed by Ha'aretz journalist Daniel Ben-Simon. Peres declared that "all those who do not have an Israeli mentality" had won while Israelis had lost. Asked who the voters lacking an Israeli mentality were, Peres replied "Call it the Jews." For Peres, Jews, by which he means religious Jews, are apparently some nefarious "other." Actually, 56% of all Jewish voters chose Peres's opponent in 1996 and the only reason Peres came close was because he was overwhelmingly the favorite of Israeli Arab voters.

Oblivious to history and reality, Peres feels free to "dream" and to "dare" -- he actually described Oslo as "a dare." While serving as Israel's Foreign Minister in 1999, he told the New York Times: "The process needs someone who represents the point of view of peace. I want to represent peace." No wonder, then, that Peres preferred to represent his reified abstraction, "Peace," rather than what he apparently regarded as the parochial interests of his nation.

Time and again, Peres invokes the name of David Ben-Gurion, as in this passage from Battling for Peace: "(In 1967) Ben-Gurion embraced me and said, 'I know many people who are prepared to work hard and make sacrifices in order to attain their goal, but I know no one like Shimon who will do this so devotedly, without taking into account any personal interest or calculation whatsoever.'" Not all of Israel's early leaders were as enamored of Peres as he claims Ben-Gurion was. Almost half a century ago Moshe Sharett, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Israel, wrote in his diary: "I totally and utterly reject Peres and consider his rise to prominence a malignant, immoral disgrace. I will rend my clothes in mourning for the State if I see him become a minister in the Israeli government." It is doubtful that even Sharett could have foreseen the long shadow that Peres would cast on Israel's political life, still serving as leader of the Labor Party at age 80.

Bret Stephens concluded his 2001 interview with Peres by observing that "the trail he's blazing seems to lead mainly to his own apotheosis. It remains to be seen how severely this self-seduction will undermine the health of the state he once did so much to build." Shimon Peres celebrated his birthday, lionized by those in attendance, many of whom had no idea of Peres's record of reckless audacity and irresponsibility. The vigorous protest demonstration outside the Mann auditorium recalled the more than one thousand four hundred Israelis who have been murdered, and well over five thousand maimed, since the signing of the Oslo agreements.

Carolyn Glick wrote in the Jerusalem Post that "in the Land of Peres, it is reality, not Peres, that is wrong...The upshot of all that Peres has told us for the past decade is that he cannot be held responsible for the consequences of his strategies. He must only be congratulated for the hope he bestowed on us all."

In view of the parlous state in which an imperilled Israel now finds itself, is the birthday of Shimon Peres really something for Israel to celebrate?  

Roger Gerber is an attorney and real estate consultant.

I'd like to wish Mr. Peres a happy birthday, and to thank him for his continuing contributions to the people of Israel:

Thank you, Mr. Peres, for bringing back Yasir Arafat from Tunis, and for writing your book The New Middle East, to convince the Israeli public to put their lives into Arafat's hands.

Thank you, Mr. Peres, for again, and again, and again, backing up Yasir Arafat each time a terrorist attack killed our people, helping to convince Israelis, and the world, that Arafat wasn't responsible.

Thank you, for contributing more than any other person, to the ability of terrorist organizations to evade responsibility, to set up shop in Israel, causing the death of over eight hundred men, women, and children, and the injury of thousands more.

Thank you, Mr. Peres, for paying Roed Larson over $100,000, a prize from the Peres Center for Peace, for helping you to get a Nobel Prize. Before, during and after getting his prize, Mr. Larsen was notorious for his wonderful contributions to our area, including non-stop incitement against the Israeli people, government and armed forces.

Thank you, Mr. Peres, for being a true quisling, in a nation that has many; for never visiting a terror victim, for never taking responsiblity for Oslo's disasters, for preening and congratulating yourself on your many achievements at the expense of our lives.

Because of you, thousands in Israel will never reach the age of eighty. Because of you many families will never be able to celebrate a loved one's birthday.  

Naomi Ragen is an Israeli novelist and essayist.

October 2003               - 5 -               Outpost