Among the founding fathers and pioneers of the State of Israel, the Ninth President and twice Prime Minister of the State of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Shimon Peres, stands out as a figure who embodied action, vision and hope.
In a career spanning more than sixty years as a statesman, Peres dedicated himself to the privilege of public service.
Peres dedicated his early years of service to building Israel's military deterrence and defensive capabilities and for several decades relentlessly devoted himself to the pursuit of peace while simultaneously leading Israel on the path towards becoming a global superpower in the fields of technology and innovation.
In 1996, Peres pioneered the founding of the Peres Center for Peace, focused on developing and implementing innovative and cutting-edge peacebuilding programs promoting peaceful relations and co-existence between Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians. In July 2016, Peres launched the National Israeli Innovation Center at the Peres Center for Peace in Jaffa.
Shimon Peres was recognized throughout the world as a leader of great stature, a statesman and visionary who represented the optimism, hope and glory of Israel. He passed away at the age of 93 on September 28, 2016.
Shimon Peres spoke fondly of Germany’s leaders and the importance of bilateral relations and cooperation between Israel and Germany. In 2010, he memorably gave a moving address as President of Israel to the Bundestag in which he proclaimed that “We believed, and continue to believe, that the new Germany will do whatever needs to be done to ensure that the Jewish state will never again have to fight for its survival alone.”
Peres always looked to the future and would be delighted to see that his vision for a prosperous relationship between Germany and Israel is being realized through increased bilateral cooperation and the promotion of shared values like peace, tolerance and innovation between the countries.