Former US President Bill Clinton walks from the stage past the casket of former Israeli President Shimon Peres at the memorial service at Mount Herzl national cemetery, Jerusalem, Sept. 30, 2016. Carolyn Kaster/Press Association. All rights reserved. From a historical and analytical perspective, it may not be very useful to engage the question of whether Shimon Peres was a ‘man of peace’ or a ‘war criminal’, or both. The first term ignores the context of his policies (all of which were aimed at maintaining overall Israeli control), and the second term positions him merely as one in a long line of Israeli leaders using brutal military force. Neither term capture what Peres represented historically, and why he stood out, especially in the later stages of his long career. Let us think of the late Peres (from the early-1990s onwards) as operating in a new mode of control.
To understand that, let us think of the late Peres (from the early-1990s onwards) as operating in a new mode of control, seeking a transition from a strategy of domination to a strategy of hegemony. What does this mean? Domination is the maintenance of control through the use of force, or the threat of such use. Hegemony is an attempt to maintain control through generating consent. How do rulers gain the consent of the governed? Not by repression, manipulation or brain-washing only or primarily, but through making some concessions (partly symbolic, partly material), co-opting elites, incorporating popular elements into the structure of power in a subordinate position.
For consent to become a real possibility, it must include willingness on the part of rulers to go some way towards meeting the concerns of those over whom they exercise control.
