Chapter
5: Two calendars (Gregorian & Hijri)
5-6(42) Israeli prime ministers received Nobel Peace Prize twice
There are several international prizes awarded to
those who contributed to world peace, such as the United Nations Peace Medal
and the Ramon Magsaysay Award of Philippine. But it is sure that the Nobel
Peace Prize is the best one in view of the high degree of recognition or its
long history. In November 1901, the first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded by
Henri Dunant of Switzerland who founded the Red Cross, and since then the prize
has continued nearly 120 years till Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali was
awarded in 2019.
Israeli Prime Ministers had won twice in this
honorable Nobel Peace Prize. Menachem Begin was the first winner in 1978. He
was jointly awarded with President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. After the Ramadan War in
1973, two politicians concluded the bilateral peace treaty although facing the opposition
of all Arab countries. The second Israeli winners were Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon
Peres in 1994. At that time Rabin was Prime Minister and Peres was Foreign
Minister who later became Prime Minister. Yasser Arafat, chairman of the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), co-won the prize with them. After the
Gulf War, the momentum of peace dialogue between Israel and Palestine had been
realized. By the mediation of Norway, so-called "Oslo Accords" was
concluded between them. It was the historical event that Israel and PLO acknowledged
each other. That was the reason why they received the Nobel Peace Prize.