Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres will visit Harvard next Thursday, officials at Hillel said yesterday.

Peres, an instrumental figure in last September's Israel-PLO accord and a negotiator in the talks about Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho, will speak on "An Arab-Israeli Peace: A Promise for the Future."

Peres will speak at 12:15 p.m. in Memorial Hall's Alumni Hall at instead of Sanders Theatre because a class already has reserved the Sanders space, said Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel Coordinating Council Chair Elie G. Kaunfer '95.

About 450 student tickets are available at Hillel and the Sanders Theatre box office and are free with a Harvard ID, said Kaunfer, who is a Crimson editor. Tickets are still available, he said.

Peres' appearance was delayed by the peace process, said Deborah K. Steinberger '95, the associate chair of Hillel.

"He was actually going to come speak in September, but then there was that whole peace thing, so he couldn't come then," Steinberger said. "We're looking forward to having him come," she said.

Peres is speaking at Harvard because of a decision by the Israeli consulate, Kaunfer said.

"Shimon Peres wanted to speak to students and so he went through the Israeli consulate," said Hillel Coordinating Council Chair Elie G. Kaunfer '95. "People [there] suggested Harvard as the best place to reach students in the Boston area."

For security reasons, admission to the eventwill require a ticket and a Harvard ID for Harvardstudents or a specially stamped ticket fornon-Harvard students. Peres will also have his ownsecurity.

Tickets are being distributed to student groupsinterested in the speech, Kaunfer said, and alsoto students at colleges including Brandeis, Tuftsand Boston University. Peres is scheduled toappear elsewhere in Boston.

Martin Lebwohl '96, co-chair of HarvardStudents for Israel, said, "People want to knowwhat his vision is for the future. We don't evenknow [what will happen]. Next week there could benew developments, things move so fast." AndKaunfer said members of Hillel are "very excitedto have Shimon Peres speak and we hope thateverything goes smoothly."

The speech is being sponsored by the Steven J.Cohn Fund of Hillel, the Consulate General ofIsrael and the Boston Metropolitan Hillel,according to flyers posted Thursday