Peres Family Outraged Over Use of Name in Ad Campaign

The family of the late Shimon Peres has strongly condemned the use of his name and image in an ad campaign promoting the annexation of Maalei Adumim.

Over the weekend, posters of Peres with the quotation, “Developing Maalei Adumim will ensure the fortification of Yerushalayim,” appeared over a main thoroughfare in the capital.

On Monday, a parade of vehicles bearing the ads are slated to drive from Maalei Adumim to the Knesset for a rally to kick off the move for an annexation bill on the opening day of the parliament’s winter session.

Peres’s son-in-law, Dr, Rafi Walden, called the campaign dishonest and noted that the quote attributed to the former president was from 38 years ago.

Walden explained that at that time, Peres believed the country’s existence was in danger, and he focused on its security; but later when conditions ripened for peace, he fought for it.

“I see this campaign as a disgusting prank by a criminal advertiser,” Walden told Army Radio. “They are deceptively presenting themselves as carrying on his legacy.”

“There is no limit to the cynicism of the advertisers, who know that Peres vigorously opposed the occupation,” Walden said. “It is especially outrageous that those who called him ‘a criminal of Oslo’ now are using his great image to wrongly present themselves as following in his footsteps in an ugly twist of his legacy over the past decades.”

Maalei Adumim mayor Benny Kashriel told The Jerusalem Post, “I am sorry that the Peres family talked about me that way. I always respected Peres. I never came out against Peres, even when we had different views. Peres was never against keeping Maalei Adumim.”

Kashriel invited the family to visit the city.