Israel's new president vows to work for peace

Elder statesman Shimon Peres took office as Israel’s ninth president today at the age of 83, pledging to devote the full seven-year term to realising his lifelong dream of bringing peace to the Middle East, despite the limitations of the largely ceremonial post.

Peres entered the parliament to military fanfares, walking between rows of soldiers in dress uniforms on a warm, sunny day, stopping to talk to some of them. Peres took his oath of office and spoke of his peace goals – even an ambitious project of digging a canal and artificial lakes in the desert between Israel and Jordan.

The swearing-in ceremony capped a momentous six-decade political career that has included international acclaim and a Nobel peace prize but also a string of embarrassing electoral defeats at home.

Peres, said he would not be constrained by his new job’s figurehead status – or his age. “If you are healthy and clear-minded, what’s wrong? I’m not in a hurry to pass away,” Peres said. “The day will come that I shall not forget to pass away. But until then, I’m not going to waste my life.”

Peres inherits an office tarnished by a sex scandal that forced his predecessor to resign, and his ascension to the presidency has widely been welcomed by a public fed up with scandal.

Peres – praised by his supporters as a visionary but ridiculed by foes as a hopeless dreamer – pledged to fight poverty and global warming, and even expressed hope of making peace with arch enemy Iran.

“After such a long career, let me just say something: My appetite to manage is over. My inclination to dream and to envisage is greater,” he said.

Peres, the last politically active member of Israel’s founding generation, has been a contributor to history throughout Israel’s 59-year existence. He was a senior aide to the country’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, developed Israel’s nuclear programme, built up the military in the 1950s and has held every senior government post, including three stints as prime minister.

As foreign minister, he played a key role in the first Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, earning him the Nobel prize in 1994 and unprecedented stature abroad as a revered statesman. He also soothed the nation as caretaker leader following the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

But until last month, Peres had never won an election, an embarrassing blemish on an otherwise illustrious career.

Looking vigorous in a dark blue suit, light blue tie and crisp shirt, Peres admitted he was surprised when parliament overwhelmingly elected him president over two other contenders on June 13. In the previous race for the presidency seven years ago, parliament handed Peres a humiliating defeat.

“I don’t think there was any person who was so much attacked and criticised in these last 60 years like myself. But the fact that after 60 years of criticism, of terrible remarks, they decided to elect me as the president,” Peres said. “I didn’t expect it.”

Under Israel’s parliamentary system, political power is concentrated in the hands of the prime minister. The president plays a largely ceremonial role, representing the government at official functions and serving as a unifying figure in a country riven by deep political divisions, especially over how to pursue peace with the Palestinians.

Peres has long been among the most dovish members of the Israeli leadership. While aware of the constraints of the new job, Peres said he would not halt his crusade for peace with the Palestinians.

He said that would require Israel to withdraw from significant pieces of territory captured in the 1967 Mideast War - a position still opposed by large parts of the Israeli public. “We have to get rid of the territories,” he said, referring to the West Bank, insisting that this is the majority view in Israel today.

Peres succeeds Moshe Katsav, who left office in a cloud of scandal after four former female employees accused him of a series of sex crimes, including rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Facing indictment, Katsav resigned two weeks ago under a plea bargain that allowed him to escape the most serious charges and avoid jail. The deal has been put on hold pending a court challenge by women’s right groups.