Images: Shimon Peres, 1923-2016
Shimon Peres, a former Israeli president and prime minister, whose life story mirrored that of the Jewish state and who was celebrated around the world as a Nobel Prize-winning visionary who pushed his country toward peace, has died, the Israeli news website YNet reported early Wednesday. He was 93.
In an unprecedented seven-decade political career, Peres filled nearly every position in Israeli public life and was credited with leading the country through some of its most defining moments, from creating its nuclear arsenal in the 1950s, to disentangling its troops from Lebanon and rescuing its economy from triple-digit inflation in the 1980s, to guiding a skeptical nation into peace talks with the Palestinians in the 1990s.
Associated PressIsraeli President Shimon Peres speaks during the 10th anniversary celebration of the Peres Center for Peace in Tel Aviv, Israel on Oct. 28, 2008.
Associated PressIsraeli Premier Minister Shimon Peres, left, discusses with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak back in 1986 results of a two-day summit meeting in Alexandria, Egypt.
Associated PressIsrael's President Shimon Peres, right, listens to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speech during the opening session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem in Oct. 2013.
Associated PressIsrael's President Shimon Peres, left, welcomes Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel with a kiss for talks at his residence in Jerusalem in 2008.
Associated PressIn March 2014, Austrian President Heinz Fischer, right, talks to Israel's President Shimon Peres, left, during a welcoming ceremony in front of the Hofburg palace in Vienna, Austria.
Associated PressIn Jan. 2001, Shimon Peres, Minister of Regional Cooperation of Israel, left, applauds Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, right, as it is announced that Arafat is about to speak at the Davos World Economic Forum. Both took part in the forum on "From Peacemaking to Peacebuilding."
Associated PressPresident Barack Obama is greeted by Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March 2013 upon his arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Associated PressShimon Peres, right, pours water into a glass and hands it to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as the men attended a symposium on the Middle East at the UNESCO in Paris in 1995.
Associated PressIsraeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, right, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shake hands during their meeting at the Gaza International Airport in Sept. 2001.
Associated PressPresident Barack Obama awards Israeli President Shimon Peres with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a dinner on June 13, 2012 at the East Room of the White House in Washington.
Associated PressIsrael's President Shimon Peres listens during an interview with The Associated Press, at his residence in Jerusalem in July 2014.
Associated PressU.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, right, and Israel's President Shimon Peres hug, during their meeting in Peres' residence in Jerusalem in May 2008.
Associated PressOn Nov. 13, 2007, Presidents Shimon Peres of Israel, left, Abdullah Gul of Turkey, center, and President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas try to reach hands as they pose for cameras after their meeting in Ankara.
Associated PressOn June 28, 2013, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, embraces Israeli President Shimon Peres before their dinner in Jerusalem.
Associated PressIsrael's Prime Minister Shimon Peres, right, eats with his hands as is the Bedouin custom during a feast he was invited too by Sheik Ali Abu Rubeia, second right; in the Negev desert in K'Seifa in 1985.
Associated PressPresident Barack Obama walks on the tarmac with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, prior to his departure from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv back in March 2013.
Associated PressThe Leader of Israel's opposition Labor party Shimon Peres, second from left, with deputy leader of the party former Premier Yitzhak Rabin, right, Labor's Haim Bar-lev, center background, and the Labor's party whip Mashe Shahal, right background, smile as they leave the Israeli parliament building in Jerusalem in 1984.
Associated PressIn Aug. 1984, Prime Minister designate Shimon Peres and former defense minister Ezer Weizman sign an agreement between their two parties in Tel Aviv.
Associated PressPalestinian leader Yasser Arafat, right, shakes hands with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres after their meeting at Gaza International Airport, southern Gaza Strip on Sept. 26, 2001.
Associated PressBack in March 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, left, talks with Vice Premier Shimon Peres during speeches prior to a vote in the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, in Jerusalem.
Associated PressPresident Bill Clinton, left, listens to Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres at the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, at the Paramount Theater in New York's Madison Square Garden in 1995.
Associated PressPresident Barack Obama, right, meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in June 2014.
Associated PressPope Francis, right, and Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, listen to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech, during an official arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel on May 25, 2014.
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