President of Israel 
June 14, 2011 | Posted by Owner | Filed under Israel, State Leaders 

Shimon Peres 
Date of Birth: 2 August 1923
Birth Place: Wiszniewo, Belarus
Political Party: Kadima
Arrival in Power: 15 July 2007
Religion: Judaism
Profession: Civil Servant, Politician

Biography
Shimon Peres was born in Wiszniewo, Belarus, in 1923. He is the current President of Israel. Shimon Peres joined the Israeli army in 1947, he was appointed to several key positions by David Ben-Gurion. He is also credited with negotiating deals that gave Israel the technological edge over its military rivals. Following his military career where he had moved up the ranks very quickly he was elected to the Knesset in 1959. He formed a new political party the Rafi along with David Ben-Gurion in 1968. He held several ministerial posts before being named Minister of Defense in 1974. 

He became the Prime Minister of Israel in 1977, when Yitzhak Rabin resigned over a scandal. However, in the election that followed his party was defeated and he became head of the opposition. His party lost the 1980 elections, but won the elections in 1984, however they were forced to make a coalition with the Likud party, because of this coalition Peres only served two years as prime minister. His party lost the elections 1988, but formed a coalition with the winning Likud party, through this agreement he became Minister of Finance. In 1992 he was replaced as party leader by Yitzhak Rabin, the man he himself had replaced in 1977.

Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995 and Peres succeeded him as prime minister. However, he lost the 1996 elections against the current Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. He ran in the presidential elections in 2000, but lost to Moshe Katsav. He ran again in 2007 and this time won the presidential race. 
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Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres