Shimon Peres, the former Israeli president and prime minister and last living major figure of Israel's founding generation, died on Wednesday at the age of 93.
And while much of the global media, including some Arab publications, have chosen to whitewash this man as a peacemaker (history will likely do the same), we would like to take a moment to highlight the significantly less rosy side of his legacy.
1. He oversaw Israel's development of nuclear weapons
Secretly, and despite opposition from the United States, Peres oversaw the development of the Israeli government's nuclear program and the development of a nuclear bomb. With the help of France, Britain and Norway, the Israeli state tested its first nuclear warhead in the 1960s.
Peres saw developing the bomb as essential to the survival of the Israeli state, giving it status in the West and within the region as a strong and unassailable power.
2. He championed illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Peres was one of the leading voices in favor of Israeli settlers in the late 1960s and the 1970s. As defense minister, he established the first settlement in the northern West Bank and championed the slogan: "Settlements everywhere."
Israeli settlements continue to be one of the leading sources of tension and largest obstacles towards the often touted "two-state solution." These settlements are dotted throughout what is internationally recognized as Palestinian land, often positioned strategically to control water supplies, fertile areas and defensible mountain regions.
Israeli settlements are nearly universally recognized as violating international law. Settlers routinely attack and murder Palestinians – including women and children.
3. He helped hatch the British-French plot that led to the Suez Crisis
In 1956, Israel invaded Egypt with the military support of the British and the French. The objective was to overthrow Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser and to gain western control of the Suez Canal. The plot failed when the U.S, the Soviet Union and the United Nations intervened to end the conflict.
4. He had a significant role in the 1996 Qana massacre
Dubbed "Operations Grapes of Wrath," the invasion of Lebanon took place under Peres' leadership as the Israeli Prime Minister. Lasting from April 11 to 27, the attack left 154 Lebanese civilians dead and some 350 wounded, according to HRW. More than 100 of these civilian deaths occurred when Israel shelled the UN base in Qana where they had sought shelter.
5. The Oslo Accords helped entrench the illegal occupation
Peres received the Nobel Peace Prize along with Rabin and Arafat, but the Oslo Accords did little more than provide a rosy optical illusion that charmed the west. In the short term, there may have been optimism that a pathway to a two-state solution was a reality, but with the Israeli states' continued expansion of settlements – a cause so heavily championed by Peres himself – and the upper hand status that the agreement granted to the Israeli state, they made only temporary headway in ending Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territory.
"His real obsession was with his own celebrity and prestige," Israeli political analyst and editor of the website Challenge Roni Ben Efrat told Al Jazeera . "What he lacked was political principle. There was an air about him of plotting behind everyone's backs. He was certainly no Nelson Mandela."
Although Peres may have spent the last decades of his extensive political career attempting to whitewash his image to the west, the legacy of oppression he worked to institute will likely – and unfortunately – continue long after his death.