1996-1997 Rothberg Yearbook

PERES
Shimon Peres, the former Prime Minister o f Israel, spoke to one-year-program
students at the request o f Beit Hillel and the Agudat Hastudentim. Hundreds of
students, waiting in line for good seats, battled the wind to enter the Truman
building on a cold Monday evening, March 3rd.
The bitter weather couldn’t dampen the air of excitement within that grew
palpably as the students entered and awaited Peres’ arrival (he arrived an hour late
- true to Israeli Standard Time). Students expected a speech followed by a
question and answer session; surprisingly only the latter occurred. Many questions
were addressed to the former Prime Minister by representatives of all shades o f the
political spectrum. The first question dealt with the day’s unsuccessful attempt by
several political parties to get a vote o f no-confidence in Bibi Netanyahu’s
government passed. The remainder o f the questions focused on every conceivable
political issue: Har Homa, Final Status negotiations, the political and religious
future o f Jerusalem, the likelihood of a National Unity government and Israel’s
negotiating “partner,” the P.L.O.
A discernible difference was noticed by many in the audience, prompting one
student to com m ent, “If only Peres had spoken with that amount o f confidence a
year ago, the current government would not now be in power, nor in its present
predicam ent.” One cannot help but recall how a year
previously it seemed that Israel could do no wrong;
now, despite many people having stated that Bibi’s
government is, more or less, at the same place as the
Peres government a year before, it is castigated for
following the Declaration of Principles.
Irrespective o f the students’ political views, all
received exactly that for which they came: to see
Shimon Peres, the former Prime Minister and current
opposition leader from the Labor party, answer tough
political questions about the future of his party,
negotiations with the Palestinians, the peace process,
and, ultimately, the fate and future o f Israel. The
event was an overwhelming success and one man
remained the chief subject o f discussion for a long
while after the Truman Institute, filled to near
capacity, was vacated: Shimon Peres.
B R IA N B U N N .