Shimon Peres ( listen (helpinfo); Hebrew: ; born Szymon Perski; August 2, 1923

September 28, 2016) was a Polish-born Israeli statesman. He was the ninth President of Israel,
serving from 2007 to 2014. Peres served twice as the Prime Minister of Israel and twice as
Interim Prime Minister, and he was a member of twelve cabinets in a political career spanning
nearly 70 years.[1][2] Peres was elected to the Knesset in November 1959 and, except for a threemonth-long hiatus in early 2006, served continuously until 2007, when he became President,
serving in the role for another seven years. At the time of his retirement in 2014, he was the
world's oldest head of state. He was considered the last link to Israel's founding generation.[3]
From a young age, he was renowned for his oratorical brilliance, and was chosen as a protg by
David Ben Gurion, Israel's founding father.[4] He began his political career in the late 1940s,
holding several diplomatic and military positions during and directly after the Israeli War for
Independence. His first high-level government position was as Deputy Director-General of
Defense in 1952 which he attained at the age of 28, and Director-General from 1953 until 1959.[5]
In 1956, he took part in the historic negotiations on the Protocol of Svres[6] described by British
Prime Minister Anthony Eden as the "highest form of statesmanship".