At the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan. 24, Israeli President Shimon Peres received the Spirit of Davos Award. No one represents the spirit of initiative and vision better than Peres. He received the award before hundreds of heads of state and international corporations, at a special session headed by Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab. Peres was granted the title in recognition of “his efforts to advance the World Economic Forum for the past two decades.”
This is the last gathering at Davos that Peres will be attending in a formal capacity. His term ends in half a year, and while he would very much like to see it extended, apparently that will not happen. The Age of Peres is over. Peres is the last of the giants from the founders’ generation, but Peres has not been solely an Israeli figure for the longest time. He is the only Israeli politician who has successfully become an international figure. It would be very hard to imagine the political, diplomatic and public map of Israel — and the Middle East for that matter — without him.
In the last elections, a year ago, Peres was pressured to run. He was already 90 years old, but he still considered it. He was offered to stand at the forefront of a new centrist movement, together with Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and many others. He would have been the honorary president of the party, filling the number one slot and ennobling it with his spirit, his vision and his optimism. He would also draw voters.
The force behind the proposal was former Kadima Party Minister Haim Ramon, who was one of the founders and planners of Livni’s movement. Together, Ramon and Peres have stolen entire herds of political horses in the past. Ramon headed Peres’ election campaign when he lost to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996. Now Ramon applied whatever weight he had on Peres and pressured him to join. Peres was born a politician and will die a politician. The idea appealed to him. He thought it over, agreed to briefly and then had second thoughts. In the end he said no.
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