Peres’ vision of peace burns brightly in his granddaughter

Mika Almog, the granddaughter of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, is determined to champion hope in an Israel fraught with despair. Despite widespread scepticism among Israelis and Palestinians about the possibility of an alternative, Almog refuses to succumb to cynicism.

“Four years after the devastating Yom Kippur War, a peace agreement was reached with Egypt,” she reflects. “History is full of unexpected turns. While the end of suffering and bereavement feels distant now, history shows us that when wars end — peace is inevitable.”

A mother of three teenagers aged 14, 17 and 19, Almog has dedicated herself to advancing the vision of coexistence her grandfather championed through working for It’s Time, an umbrella coalition of 50 peacebuilding organisations that strives to galvanise Israelis and Palestinians around a shared vision of security and self-determination. Almog is Content Director for the coalition, in which she oversees the panels, speakers, music and entertainment of their mass peace events.

When asked about the Oslo Accords her grandfather initiated, which have been widely criticised as a failure, Almog said: “Oslo was meant to be a process that would lead to peace, yet temporary arrangements such as the creation of Areas A, B and C in the West Bank that were meant to last five years have been in place for 30 years.

“Add to that the assassination of Rabin and the terror of Hamas, the problem of Oslo wasn’t the idea; it was the implementation. Yet failure shouldn’t mean we give up. Just as medical scientists have tried and failed hundreds of times to cure Alzheimer's, so we must continue to try and make peace until we succeed. The essence of progress is trying to achieve impossible things.”

In March,  Almog published an article in Haaretz under the provocative headline, "I Am a Potential Bereaved Mother. So Are You. And Life Goes On." In the piece, she reflected on a routine moment that became a catalyst for profound and unsettling thoughts. While cleaning her refrigerator, she removed and later re-hung family photographs.

One image, a cherished snapshot of her and her son, drew her attention. It showed him at three years old, his arms around her neck, kissing her cheek as she smiled with blissful abandon. Her son, now 16, was studying for exams and preparing for combat fitness. Instead of marvelling at the passage of time or recalling the sweetness of the moment, she found herself gripped by a haunting thought: whether this image would one day accompany news of his death in battle.

Standing before the refrigerator, she confronted the overwhelming weight of anticipatory grief, imagining herself as a bereaved mother in waiting. She questioned how society continued to produce generations of young soldiers destined for conflict, asking why the illusion of “absolute victory” persisted despite the inescapable truth that nothing in life is absolute- except death.

The article sparked significant public debate in Israel, drawing both criticism and praise. Beyond the public outcry, Almog was struck by the flood of private messages she received. Hundreds of mothers from across the country reached out, expressing gratitude for articulating thoughts and fears they felt but could not voice in public. For Almog, the response to this piece was unlike anything she had experienced before, revealing a shared, unspoken anguish that resonated deeply.

In July, Almog spearheaded It’s Time’s first major event at the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv. Despite doubts from peers about filling the 6,000-seat venue during wartime, the event drew a full house, uniting diverse voices in a call for coexistence.

For Almog, the most powerful moment of the mass event was the opening testimonies from several Israelis and Palestinians who had lost loved ones or been taken hostage to Gaza, with each affirming their refusal to see the death of their loved one or their own suffering as a tool to justify any act of revenge against the other.

The coalition’s second initiative, the People’s Peace Journey, spanned six days in December and featured 14 events across the country involving 2000 people. From Shfar'am & Iksal in the north to kibbutzim on the Gaza border, each event had different organisers and a different theme, reflecting the breadth of the It’s Time coalition.

For example, in Tel Aviv, MK Naama Lazimi and MK Gilad Kariv — two powerhouses of the Zionist left in Israel, highlighted the two competing visions for Israel offered by the Left and the radical Right, emphasising that nearly 70% of Israelis support a regional alliance, and more than 70% see the radical Right as a threat to the nation.

Other events on the journey included everything from hip-hop and classical music to education panels and a bi-lingual children’s play. On the final day, they travelled from Rahat to Sderot to Netiv Haasara, which is the kibbutz of Maoz Inon, whose parents were killed there on the morning of October 7.

Outside their destroyed home, their granddaughter Eden Inon said, “as someone who has grown up her whole life in a country marred by wars, I believe every young person deserves better, no matter what side of the conflict they come from.”

The event concluded with an announcement that the It’s Time coalition is planning a major peace summit in Jerusalem on April 3-4. Focused on youth, the summit will feature high-profile international guests, public commitments to peace, and a vibrant youth festival and more surprises Almog would not reveal at this time.

When asked if these events are just preaching to the converted, Almog said that she is not in the business of convincing supporters of Netanyahu that they are wrong. Instead, she wants to activate those on the deflated Left who despair at their country's fate to organise and lead the people of their homeland on a more just and equal path.

When asked about her goals for the year, Almog’s resolve is clear: “In 2025, I am committed to doing everything in my power to protect the lives of my children — and all children in this region. This is the time where we have a chance, perhaps our last, to atone. To fix things.

“So that if we ever stand above the grave of our child — sent to war, or just out to a party, or asleep in their pajamas — we can say that we fought for them, that we fought to ensure that decisions about their lives and deaths were made with wisdom by people who value the lives of our neighbours as much as their own children.”

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