“Peres will divide Jerusalem.” Four words that changed the course of Israel’s history, world events, and my career.
I was a young American political operative in 1996, working alongside Arthur Finkelstein, when those words became the centerpiece of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign against Shimon Peres. The country was still reeling from Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. The Oslo process was underway, and Peres, the veteran statesman, was the clear favorite.
Polls pointed to a comfortable Labor victory. We ignored them. The slogan cut through the noise because it crystallized a fear that was real for millions of Israelis: that the peace process, however
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