Shimon Peres

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Shimon Peres (help·info) (Hebrew: ????? ???, born Szymon Perski on August 2, 1923 in eastern Poland) is a senior Israeli statesman with a political career spanning more than 65 years. He was elected President of Israel on June 13, 2007; his inauguration is on 16 July 2007. Peres has served twice as Prime Minister of Israel, though only once as the result of direct elections, and once as acting prime minister. He has also held many other significant Israeli cabinet posts including Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, and Defense Minister. He has served in the current Olmert government as Vice Premier of Israel and Minister for the Development of the Negev, Galilee and Regional Economy. In 1994, Shimon Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize together with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for the peace talks that produced the Oslo Accords. Peres participated in these talks as the Israeli Foreign Minister, under Prime Minister Rabin. During his career, he has been the party leader of Mapai, Rafi, the Alignment, and the Labor Party, as well as a member of the Knesset for the Kadima Party. In 2007, Peres was nominated by the Kadima party to run in the presidential elections. He was elected by the Knesset for the presidency on 13 June 2007 and will succeed Moshe Katsav on 16 July 2007 for a seven-year term