Shimon Peres has passed away at the age of 93, in peace at the medical center Chaim Seba in Israel. He is the last historic figure of the "founding fathers" of Israel. He will be remembered for his mitigated legacy, his thirst for power (he has been minister or prime minister 18 times), his stubbornness and also his incredible commitment to the consolidation and development of Israeli military power.He was extremely engaged in establishing a sustainable immigration policy of the world's Jews to Israel. He was successful to some degree and he can only be compared to Menachem Begin in the history of Israel in attaching vital importance to immigration to Israel as a means of guaranteeing its survival.He is heralded in most of the Western media as the man at the "Oslo Peace Process" and a laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize. In the Arab world, he is remembered differently, especially for the bombing of Cana, in south Lebanon in 1996, where more than 100 civilians lost their lives while they were under the protection of U.N. forces.To his credit, he was one of the pioneers within the Labour Party to "accept" the right to exist of the Palestinian people, within a system of two independent states. Itzhak Rabin, former commander in chief of the Israeli Forces in 1967 and a national hero of Israel, paid with his life in the opening towards the PLO. Peres almost lost his life in the assassination of Rabin, he decided at the last moment not to accompany Rabin to the platform, escaping certain death. Yigal Amir, the killer who assassinated Rabin, changed his mind to kill both of them and kept his ammunition for Rabin only.This anecdote shows eloquently how it is incredibly violent and hazardous to be a politician in the Middle East. The ruthless and unmerciful attitude of state policies has brought the societies of the Middle East to the brink of total disaster. Yasser Arafat, who personalized the struggle of the Palestinian people almost by himself, was described as a leader who "never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity." The same definition could apply very well to Shimon Peres. A mountain of opportunities to render the Palestinian problem totally inextricable was missed by both of them.With Peres gone, Israel has lost a very important part of its collective memory. Now this is the era of politicians and leaders born in Israel and raised in Israel, for whom Palestinians are the "enemy." Peres was capable of searching and establishing a "workable" peace with the "enemy," although he never was fully successful in implementing it. The new political elite of Israel has shifted towards increasing hard line stances, especially toward the Palestinian leadership.Shimon Peres died peacefully, in a hospital, surrounded by his family. His funeral will be attended by prominent world leaders. His work is and will be praised by the mass media and the political elite. Yasser Arafat died in a hospital in France, where he was transported through an emergency operation, while the building he worked in was being gradually demolished by the Israeli Forces. His death in Paris is still very much debated, to know whether he was poisoned or not. The terrible contrast between the deaths of two prominent leaders of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict summarizes eloquently the situation of this terrible issue today.