Israel’s Philosopher-Politician

Shimon Peres, who died in Tel Aviv on Wednesday at age 93, was a man of contradictions. Admired in much of the world for his eloquence, wisdom and dedication to peacemaking, within Israel he lacked the popularity and charisma of other leaders of his generation, military heroes like Yitzhak Rabin or Ariel Sharon in whose shadow he spent much of his long public service.

Though instrumental in Israel’s first years in building its defense establishment and later in securing its nuclear potential, he emerged in time as a champion of making peace with Palestinians. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mr. Rabin and the Palestinian leader, Yasir Arafat, for the 1993 Oslo peace agreement — arguably the closest Israel and the Palestinians have ever come to a real deal — and the Peres Center for Peace he founded has become a major center for promoting a lasting peace.

He spent much of his long life in the rough-and-tumble of Israeli politics, serving as a minister in 12 cabinets. He never succeeded in his quest to be elected prime minister, though he filled the office three times either through political arrangement or on an interim basis. He was humiliatingly defeated once for the largely ceremonial post of Israeli president, though, as always, he rebounded and held the office until his retirement in 2014.

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