JERUSALEM — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres ended his term as president of Israel on Thursday — a man who symbolizes hopes for peace capping a seven-decade public career amid the brutal reality of war.
Peres handed the ceremonial but high-profile presidency over to Reuven Rivlin, a legislator from the hawkish Likud Party.
The elder statesman has made clear he has no intention to retire, but few expect him to hold public office again, after a career that dates back to the 1940s and has seen him occupy almost every major government position in the land.
“I did not imagine that in the last days of my presidency I would be called upon, once more, to comfort bereaved families,” Peres, 90, said in his speech.
He blamed the Islamic militant group Hamas for starting the current war by firing barrages of rockets at Israel but also emphasized that “Israel is not the enemy of the people of Gaza.”
Rivlin’s theme was similar: “We are not fighting against the Palestinian people, and we are not at war with Islam,” he said. “We are fighting against terrorism.” In contrast to Peres, Rivlin has long opposed efforts to establish a Palestinian state.
