TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – In a seven-decade career packed with historic triumphs and painful setbacks, Shimon Peres took pride in always looking forward.
Now, in a memoir completed just weeks before his death last year, the former Israeli president and prime minister offers his trademark optimistic blueprint for future leadership – along with some subtle criticism of the country’s current leader.
The book offers a rare glimpse into key chapters of his extraordinary life – from his early days as a protege to Israel’s founding father David Ben-Gurion, to his covert efforts to smuggle arms to the new state and build its nuclear reactor, to orchestrating the famed Entebbe hostage rescue raid and nurturing the country’s booming high-tech sector.
Peres says he lived a life of no regrets, with just one possible exception – that his vision to make peace did not materialize in his lifetime.
The book, “No Room for Small Dreams,” came out Tuesday as Israel began marking the anniversary of his passing at the age of 93.