Shimon Peres; Serving 60 Years to Life.(Interview)

Byline: Joanna Chen

Shimon Peres, 82, has been a key figure in Israeli politics for six decades, serving as prime minister twice and holding an impressive number of major cabinet posts. In 1994 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin. Last week, the 82-year-old Israeli vice prime minister resigned from his 60-year-long membership in the Labor Party. That doesn't mean he's retiring, however. The dovish Peres has already committed to joining Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet should his new party, Kadima (Forward), be elected in the upcoming Israeli elections. NEWSWEEK's Joanna Chen spoke with Peres last week about his latest political adventure. Excerpts:

CHEN: You were visibly moved when you announced your resignation from the Labor Party.

PERES: It's emotional and historic. I didn't do it lightheartedly but, finally, I thought, what is the most important issue in the years to come? It's clearly peace, and peace cannot be achieved without two conditions: a coalition and the dismantling of settlements. I don't claim it was an easy decision. I've committed a lot of mistakes in my life. But they were rather a function of innocence than of cynicism.

At this stage, you could retire from politics while still pursuing your quest for peace in the Middle East. Why limit yourself to siding with Sharon's new party?

There is no other party. Israel woke up one morning to discover it is a changed country politically. Sharon divorced the Likud. Sharon is not the Likud [and] I didn't join the Likud Party.

What if Sharon's new political maneuver fails?