A surprising move: Merav Michaeli calls for the Israel Prize to be awarded to her former political rival

The Chairman of the Labor Party, MK Merav Michaeli , today (Thursday) appealed to the Minister of Education Yoav Kish to award Defense Minister and former MK Amir Peretz the Israel Prize, for his contribution to the development and use of the "Iron Dome" system. As you may remember, there was a political rivalry between Michaeli and Peretz in the past, when in 2020 Peretz, who was then the chairman of the Labor Party, chose to enter the unity government formed by Netanyahu and Gantz while Michaeli opposed and remained in the opposition.

On behalf of Michaeli, it was stated that "the call comes in light of recent events that have made it clear how important Peretz's unique contribution to Israel's security is in light of his courageous decision, which was against the opinion of many at the time, to develop the air defense system and the Iron Dome air defense system. For years, Iron Dome has been saving the lives of Many civilians are on the home front, and this year has proven itself even more strongly in the war in defense of Israel's skies against many arenas."

Michaeli also stated in the letter that "my disagreements with Amir Peretz are not a secret, and I am not in contact with him." But from a sober national perspective, it is fitting that in these days especially, there should be appropriate recognition of Peretz's contribution to the shaping of the air defense capabilities of the State of Israel, the defense of the homeland and Israel's security – in the form of the Peres Israel Award.

As I recall, after the storm that accompanied the awarding of the Israel Awards this year, when Minister of Education Kish announced the cancellation of awarding the awards in the regular categories, he finally retracted , and the list of winners for this year has already been completed.