Israeli Vice-Premier Shimon Peres announced his candidacy
Wednesday for president of Israel, an office tarnished by rape and
other sexual misconduct allegations against its current occupant,
Moshe Katsav.
Peres, 83, is Israel's elder statesman, and the presidency would
cap 60 years of public service at the highest levels. He ran for
the president's job seven years ago, but in a secret ballot,
parliament gave the job to Katsav, a junior politician who enjoyed
the support of a prominent Israeli spiritual leader.
"This may be my last chance to serve the country," he said, upon
accepting his Kadima Party's endorsement for the June 13 race. The
term is for seven years.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged his support for Peres,
himself a former prime minister, saying he would be a perfect fit
for the ceremonial post, which is traditionally filled by Zionist
legends and revered statesmen, but has lost esteem because of the
allegations against Katsav.
"The people of Israel would be honored to have Shimon Peres as
its president," Olmert said. "Shimon Peres represents everything
that is right, desirable and honorable in a president."
Peres, a top aide to Israel's first prime minister, David
Ben-Gurion, became a politician in his own right in 1959, when he
was elected to parliament. Since that time, he has held a
succession of senior posts, including the premiership, and minister
of defense, finance and foreign affairs.
He is held in high regard abroad, and shared the 1994 Nobel
Peace Prize with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat.
At home, however, he is famous for his multiple electoral
defeats. He served three brief stints as prime minister, but was
never elected. In 2005, he bolted the Labor Party that had been his
home for his entire political life to join Kadima.
The winner will be decided in a secret ballot in the 120-member
parliament. Peres is expected to face off against former Knesset
spokesman Reuven Rivlin of the hawkish Likud, and Colette Avital of
the centrist Labor Party.
Katsav, who insists he is innocent of any wrongdoing, stepped
aside earlier in the year to battle the allegations against him,
but refused to resign. No formal charges have been brought against
him, though Attorney General Meni Mazuz has signaled his intent to
do so.
Katsav's term ends this summer.
(China Daily via agencies May 31, 2007)
