Quote of the Day

President Shimon Peres:

Peres emphasized the importance of military service and said that those who serve become better citizens than those who don't, who "lose their way."

"If anyone is defending Israel, it's the army," he continued. "The state cannot allow the existence of gaps in recruitment, which endanger the state. Everyone must serve his country. Whoever wants to avoid war must have a strong army. Only a good and powerful army serves as a deterrent."

Excuse me Mr. Peres but:

Elder statesman of Israel's parliament, Shimon Peres, 83, falsified the biographical information on his official Knesset Web page to imply military service that he never performed, journalist David Bedein has claimed in the Philadelphia Bulletin.

Peres, branded as a perennial loser (having never won a major election) and now pulling out all the stops to mount a last-gasp campaign for president, describes his military record as follows:

"Military Service Haganah; IDF; Temporary Head of Naval Services, 1950"

But, Bedein claims, citing his biographer and official records, Peres never served in the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, nor was he the "temporary head of Naval Services" in 1950.

In Peres' biography on his official Ministry of Foreign Affairs page, the facts are presented differently: "In Israel's War of Independence (1947-48), Peres was responsible for arms purchases and recruitment, and in 1948 was appointed head of the naval services."

Bedein reports that Peres was ridiculed early in his career for not having served in any military capacity in the war of independence for the nascent Jewish state. The official Israel Ministry of Defense Lexicon of Israeli Defense, published in 1976 when Peres was minister of Defense, identifies Peres as only holding a desk job at the new Israel Ministry of Defense, "responsible for naval matters," appointed to that position in 1949.

Peres' office, asked for a response on the misrepresentation of Peres on the official site of the Israeli Knesset, declined to comment.

His official biographer, Dr. Michael Bar Zohar, however, confirmed that Peres never served in the IDF, Bedein reported.

Once I had a conversation with the late Rechavam Ze'evi, may God avenge his blood. He told me that Peres never served in the IDF. I told him that I think that I once saw a picture of him in uniform. Ze'evi replied that the picture must have been taken on Purim!