Itongadol.- Shimon Peres does not intend to try to extend his tenure as president when his seven-year term expires in the summer of 2014, he told Israel Radio on Sunday.
Speaking in an interview at the tail-end of a state visit to Mexico, Peres said in response to queries about whether he would return to politics following his presidency, that "it is possible to serve the country outside of political life as well."
Peres continued to push for advancement of the peace process with the Palestinians during his visit to Mexico.
Despite all the difficulties and delays, President Shimon Peres continues to believe that Israel will reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. “I didn’t give up hope and believe that just as we made peace with the Egyptians at a time when it did not seem possible and we made peace with the Jordanians we will make peace with the Palestinians” Peres said in the course of a dialogue with Felipe Gonzales, the former three-term Prime Minister of Spain on Saturday evening following the inauguration of the Israeli pavilion at the 27th Guadalajara International Book Fair.
The largest Spanish language book fair in the world and the second largest international book fair after Frankfurt, this year has made Israel its guest of honor.
Israel’s participation under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in the nature of a cultural happening focusing on diverse aspects of Israeli culture which will be featured in Guadalajara over a nine-day period.
Huge posters to this effect with photographs of Israeli cultural icons can be seen all over the city.
At the opening ceremony of the Israeli pavilion, Peres said that the book fair shows the spirit of Israel. Mexico and Israel are both literary empires, he continued, explaining that people who suffer write good books or use swords. “Swords kill; books enrich” he said.
As he entered the auditorium in which the dialogue was held, Peres received a sustained standing ovation, as has been the case at all his appearances in Mexico.
He received another ovation replete with cheers and cries of Shalom when his name was mentioned by the moderator of the dialogue.
Gonzales received an even louder ovation.
Many of the 600 people sitting in the auditorium had flown in from Mexico City to share a Sabbath meal with Peres on Friday night and to hear him again at the book fair.
The dialogue with Gonzales covered subjects such as ideologies that have either disappeared or lost their relevance, racism, the technological revolution, the impact of science, new definitions of old concepts and of course the peace process.
Peres and Gonzales are old colleagues from the days in which both were active in the Socialist International and have previously dialogued on these subjects both in private and in public.
Gonzales raised the issue of tolerance, to which Peres whose definition of democracy is not only the right to be equality, but the right to be different, replied that if prejudices were eradicated there would be no need for tolerance. “We have to change prejudices and let our children build a new world,” he said.
When Gonzales expressed concern that science might replace God, Peres responded: “I don’t think science is God, but science elevates us to certain heights.”
When the conversation turned to the Middle East and the contention by Gonzales that Israel is not acknowledging the rights of the Palestinians, Peres retorted that Israel was the first to recognize the Palestinians. The Arabs did not recognize them when Jordan had control of the West Bank and Egypt had control of Gaza, he said.
Reflecting on the seven wars that Israel won against all odds, Peres said that winning the wars was not the real victory. “The real victory is peace.”
He had engaged in many conversations with Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat in the desire to reach a peaceful accommodation with the Palestinians, he said. “Without Arafat, the peace process could not have started, but with Arafat it could not be completed,” said Peres.
As Prime Minister, Peres had given a considerable number of cities and villages to the Palestinians so that they could be autonomous. This had made him popular with the Palestinians, but to the extent that prevented their ongoing terror activities. Peres cited the blowing up of a bus in Jerusalem and another terror attack the following day in Tel Aviv. When he had gone to the sight of the carnage in Jerusalem, huge crowds had already gathered and had yelled at him, calling him a traitor. His policy towards the Palestinians had cost him dearly. It was election time, and because of the continuing terrorist attacks, he failed to be re-elected.
“I lost the elections because I trusted the Palestinians and terror continued. But I did not lose my way,” he said. “I never gave up hope.”
Peres suggested that the Europeans and the Americans go to Gaza and tell the Palestinians there to stop shooting at Israel. When Gonzales was critical of the degree of Israeli retaliation following terrorist attacks, Peres replied “You have to defend yourself when someone is trying to kill you. The problem is to stop the killing, not to stop the defending.” “Tell them to stop terrorizing. They kill their own people, they kill our people. This is the greatest obstacle to peace.”
Prior to the opening of the Israeli pavilion which was temporarily sealed off there was a loud anti-Israel demonstration by Palestinians on the other side of the pavilion. People inside the enclosed area could not tell how many people were amongst the demonstrators, but the volume of their shouting suggested that there was a large number.