RIP Shimon Peres.

Israel is not really old enough to have a period of "Good Old Days."
But if you can forgive old-timers for looking back on the country's early years -- the more idealistic days before it became so clear what it was going to cost in human sacrifice to keep the light on the hill lit -- with a glimmering fondness, then you might understand tonight, perhaps, what it is they mourn that died just a little bit today with the passing of Shimon Peres.
Go in peace, my friend,
to love and serve the Lord...
Shalom.
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* Peres led the creation of Israel’s defense industry, negotiated key arms deals with France and Germany and was the prime mover behind the development of Israel’s nuclear weapons. But he was consistent in his search for an accommodation with the Arab world, a search that in recent years left him orphaned as Israeli society lost interest, especially after the upheavals of the 2011 Arab Spring led to tumult on its borders.

ADDED:  "Mr. Peres broke the taboo, and the impasse."
...
But the era of good feelings did not last. It was shattered in 2000 after a visit by the opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the sacred plaza in Jerusalem known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The next day, the Israeli police fired on stone-throwing protesters, inaugurating a new round of violence that became known as the second intifada.
...
"If you have children,” he said, “you cannot feed them forever with flags for breakfast and cartridges for lunch. You need something more substantial. Unless you educate your children and spend less money on conflicts, unless you develop your science, technology and industry, you don’t have a future.”

Amen.