(Hatenua Chaired by Tzipi Livni)

Amir Peretz was born in Morocco in 1952 and immigrated to Israel in 1956, his family settling in the town of Sderot in the Negev. He served in the IDF as a munitions officer in a paratroopers division, reaching the rank of captain. He was seriously injured in Sinai during the Yom Kippur War. Following a long rehabilitation, he learned to walk again, and established a farm on Moshav Nir Akiva near his home town of Sderot.

Peretz ran for mayor of Sderot on behalf of the Labor Party in 1983, and at the age of 30 won his first election, serving for five years. In 1995 Peretz was chosen Chairman of the Histadrut Labor Federation and was voted in by a large majority once again three years later. He became a leader for the working class, leading many labor struggles.

As a Member of Knesset since 1988, he served, among others, on the Foreign Affairs and Defense, Labor and Welfare, Constitution, Law and Justice, and the House Committees, as well as the Committees on the Status of Women and Foreign Workers. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on Social Disparity.

Peretz established the Am Ehad ("One Nation") party in preparation for elections for the 15th Knesset in 1999. In 2004, Am Ehad was reunified with Labor, and in November 2005 Peretz was elected Chairman of the Labor Party.

Amir Peretz served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense from May 2006 until June 2007, after failing to win re-election as Chairman of the Labor Party.

After serving in the 18th Knesset as a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Economic Affairs Committee, and the Committee on the Status of Women, Amir Peretz was re-elected to the 19th Knesset as a member Hatenua Chaired by Tzipi Livni. In March 2013 he was appointed Minister of Environmental Protection, serving until his resignation in November 2014.

He is married and the father of four.