A league of his own
Op-ed: Throughout his entire political career, Shimon Peres yearned for the people's love and saw it go to others, until he was elected president. In the eyes of his people, he ceased to be a politician; he became a historical figure.
Throughout his entire political career, Shimon Peres
yearned for the people's love. He saw it go to others—those he grew up in the shadow of, those he grew up with and those who were his rivals: Berl Katznelson, David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon.
He was in all the important crossroads: From before the State of Israel's establishment to the 2000s, from the War of Independence to the Second Lebanon War, and he held a key position in all of them, sometimes a decisive position. He did not receive the love he sought.
Peres remained a consensus – not thanks to peace, but thanks to himself, thanks to his status, his seniority, vitality, wisdom, age (Photo: AP)
Until the recent years—the years of reconciliation. When he was elected president in 2007, the Israelis saw his election as the righting of a wrong. Not just a correction of the president's image, after the Katsav affair, but of Peres' status among them. In exchange, he gave them seven good, glowing years in which he turned his reputation in the world into a defensive shield for the state and its government, and in which he rehabilitated the President's Residence.
He continued with this line even after leaving office, about two years ago. The pursuit of peace agreements, which Peres saw as his main task since the 1980s, did not bear real fruit. The majority of the public kept away from it. But Peres remained a consensus—not thanks to peace, but thanks to himself, thanks to his status, his seniority, vitality, wisdom, age.
In the eyes of his people, he ceased to be a politician. He became a historical figure, bigger than politics, bigger than day-to-day life, an image of a different league.
The Israelis' love follows him to the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, where he has been fighting for his life since Tuesday evening. This love no longer relies on anything—neither on political views nor on party memberships or past emotions. They would like to hear, once again, as they did in his previous visits to the hospital, that he is joking with his doctors.
