Sonia Peres

Sonia Peres (27 March 1923 – 20 January 2011) was the wife of President and Prime Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres. Sonia served in the British Army during World War II, and for many years volunteered anonymously for sick children and the disabled.

She married Shimon in May 1945. Together, they helped found kibbutz Alumot. Sonia and Shimon had three children and eight grandchildren.

Sonia rarely appeared in public eye, preferring to play a backstage role in her husband's six-decade political career.

Israeli activist and married life In May 1945, after completing her service in the British Army and returning to Palestine, she married Shimon Peres. Sonia Peres was a housewife who chose to stay away from the media and fiercely maintained her privacy and the privacy of her family, despite her husband's extensive political career. Over the years, Peres has volunteered for various activities designed to help the needy in Israeli society. Among other things, she assisted in the distribution of food products to the needy, and also worked extensively for IDF widows. In one case, Peres adopted the children of one of the widows, upon her death, and even let them live for a period of time in the prime minister's official resident. However, her voluntary activity was under a heavy veil of secrecy, due to Peres' unwillingness to publicize her activity. However, during the two years she served as the prime minister's wife, she continued to refuse to be interviewed, and as far as is known, even refrained from any involvement in political issues her husband engaged in as part of his job. During the elections to the Fourteenth Knesset and of the Prime Minister, she did not take any active role in her husband's election campaign, nor did she attend the debate between Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu, which was one of the highlights of the election. In contrast, hours before the election results were published, family members and close friends gathered at Peres' house, where she hosted them.

First Lady of Israel With the election of Shimon Peres as president, Sonia Peres announced that she would not move with him to the president's official residence and would stay in their private apartment in Neve Avivim. Ever since they lived separately, following her husband breaking his promise that being elected chairman of the Labor Party in 2002 would be his last public job. During this period she changed her name to Sonia Gal, an abbreviation of her maiden name Gelman.

Death

Sonia died on January 20, 2011, in her apartment in Tel Aviv. At her request, she was buried in the cemetery of the Ben Shemen Youth Village and not in the place designated for her, next to her husband, in the Helkat Gedolei HaUma on Mount Herzl.