After a controversial career in politics, Shimon Peres reinvented himself as Israel’s president–and redefined the presidency. Now he has done the same with being an ex-president–and you have to admire the way he has begun his latest phase with a video launched this week showing a rather different face of the...

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Former Israeli President Shimon Peres opened the 14th annual Conference of the Institute for Counter-Terrorism by calling on the world to join Israel in its fight against terror. Peres further pinpointed Qatar and Turkey as two major state sponsors of terrorist organizations, and demanded proper action be taken against both.  The Jerusalem Post reported on Peres’ comments: “Terror...

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90-year-old Shimon Peres left office Thursday as the ninth president of the State of Israel capping a remarkable seventy year career in public service. In his farewell speech before the Knesset, Peres began: I came to thank you for the privilege you granted me to serve our country and its people...

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Israeli lawmakers elected Reuven Rivlin, a Knesset member with the leading Likud party, as the country’s next president today, replacing Shimon Peres, who retires on July 27. Rivlin won in a second ballot after no candidate received the votes needed in the first round of voting. Rivlin garnered 63 votes...

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Israel’s leaders from President Shimon Peres on down roundly condemned the May 24 slaying of three people outside a Jewish museum in Brussels, Belgium, including an Israeli couple and a museum volunteer. President Peres called upon European leaders to take action against any form of anti-semitism and said, “We must act without hesitation...

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The House of Representatives on Monday voted to give the Congressional Gold Medal to Israel’s outgoing president, Shimon Peres. The bill, HR 2939, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA), would confer the medal, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States, on Peres, who...

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Outgoing Israeli President Shimon Peres told an Israeli television interviewer earlier this week that three years ago he nearly had an agreement with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinians seized on this interview to claim that it is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has been an obstacle to peace....

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A series of announcements and moves out of Turkey – ranging from skepticism expressed by the country’s Turkish President Abdullah Gul to new developments in an anti-Israel show trial – have observers worrying that Ankara is backsliding on U.S.-driven efforts to achieve diplomatic rapprochement between Israel and Turkey. Israeli-Turkish relations...

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The 19th Maccabiah kicked off last Thursday evening with a raucous opening ceremony for 30,000 spectators in Jerusalem. The presidents of Israel and the United States were among the dignitaries welcoming the more than 9,000 participants from 70 countries. The games are the largest in the eight-decade history of the...

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Secretary of State John Kerry is wrapping up a trip to the Middle East in which he unveiled an initiative, designed to jumpstart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, under which Palestinian areas would be given a $4 billion economic boost. The Palestinian reaction was less than enthusiastic. An economic advisor for...

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