I think Peres is ok making a statement of thanks for those citizens who saved lives.
But he has done lots of harm to Isr. with his “ghetto Jew” mentality. Isn’t it high time for him to enjoy a nice pleasant retirement? He’s sure “contributed” enough, for a very very long time, to Isr. governance. (And, just how old is he, anyway?)
I wouldn’t characterize him as a “ghetto Jew”. Jews of the old ghettos lived by their prayers and their wits. As for the former, he says none. As for the latter, he has none. An analogy with the Judenrat would be more accurate, but I won’t make that analogy. The Judenrat were given an impossibly conflicted job, caring for their community and preserving themselves by selling their community out, and they gave the job to those who only cared about their selves, so they would do it as the Germans wanted. He is only concerned with aggrandizing himself, and fools himself into believing that he actually cares about humanity and his people. He’s out of touch with reality, and thanking a bus driver as if he had personally done Peres a favor by not getting incinerated is just the latest sign of it.