Make history or become history, Peres to Sharon

Peres continued, even as Sharon shifted and sank in his chair, his smile replaced by a frown. ‘‘I ask you, Arik, how long do you want to sit in the waiting room of history?’’

Peres serves as a reminder of a time when peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians seemed almost within reach. A decade ago Peres helped shepherd an interim peace agreement with the Palestinians known as the Oslo accords, a land-for-peace deal that was supposed to lead to creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Peres said on Monday that the prize for Arafat was correct at the time. Some Israelis considered the two-day celebration in Peres’ honour as ill-timed when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains unresolved.

‘‘The one thing that nobody can take away from him is his relentless optimism,’’ said Uri Dromi of the Israel Democracy Institute, a former aide to Peres. ‘‘We all need hope. It’s also that Peres was always blamed for being a bit aloof, or not in touch with reality, or too visionary, but then he delivered.’’ Dromi added: ‘‘I wouldn’t brush off everything he says as some kind of hallucination. But look what happened to his dream of a new West Asia. It collapsed. His theory is right, but the gap between what he is saying and reality is a bit too wide to give his statements credibility.’’

Sharon said, ‘‘Perhaps Shimon, we will again go together facing one common goal.’’ Peres responded, ‘‘Arik, it may be much closer than what you think, and even closer than I believe.’’ — LAT-WP