Peled, Matityahu

(1923-95)

   Born in Jerusalem, he joined the Palmah in 1941. Following independence, he helped found the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Staff and Command College. He was among the first high-ranking officers, immediately after the Six-Day War (1967), to call upon Israel to help the Palestinians create their own state in much of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Retiring from the IDF in 1975 at the rank of brigadier general, he became one of the first prominent Israelis to advocate direct negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), held secret meetings with PLO representatives, and helped found the Israel Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. In 1984, he (along with the Israeli journalist and political activist Uri Avneri and the Israeli Arab lawyer Muhammad Miari) helped found the Progressive List for Peace (PLP) and was elected to the Knesset on the PLP slate. He was one of the founders of the Israeli Peace Movement Gush Shalom. He also advocated on behalf of Israeli soldiers who refused to serve in the West Bank and Gaza during the intifada. Peled died on 10 March 1995 of liver cancer.