The World Jewish Congress held an event with the UN’s University of Peace, in partnership with Reichman University and the Peres Center, to mark the 100th birthday of former Israeli President and statesman Shimon Peres. At the event, which featured the release of The Simon Peres Legacy of Peace through Fourteen Historical Speeches, Dr. Leon Saltiel, the WJC’s Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, underscored the impact Peres left on the on the Jewish people through his many achievements, saying, "Shimon Peres was a true statesman. He was a dreamer, an optimist, who had faith in young people and looked ahead to the future, rather to the past. The world truly needs more leaders like Shimon Peres."
In the one chapter featuring remarks given by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder upon presenting Peres with the organization’s Herzl Award in 2014, he explains, “President Shimon Peres was a renaissance man of breathtaking intellectual horizons. One of the architects of the rebirth of the Jewish people in its homeland, Shimon was a man of peace who never lost hope that Israel would one day live in harmony with its Arab neighbors.
“His legacy and leadership set the stage for the momentous signing of the Abraham Accords by Israel, the UAE and Bahrain. Awarding him the Herzl Prize of the World Jewish Congress was but a small token of gratitude for his many contributions to the well-being of the Jewish people and the Jewish state,” he added.
You can find a full copy of The Simon Peres Legacy of Peace through Fourteen Historical Speeches compiled and edited by David Fernández Puyana and Daphné Richemond-Barak HERE.
