SHIMON PERES, FORMER ISRAELI PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER, DEAD AT 93.
Shimon Peres, the former Israeli prime minister, president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has died at the age of 93.
The Israeli statesman suffered a major stroke two weeks ago and died in hospital in Tel Aviv at 3: 40 a. m. on Wednesday. Rafi Walden, Peres’s personal doctor as well as his sonin-law, confirmed the news.
Peres’s political career stretched across seven decades and he was a constant presence in Israeli public life from before the founding of the Jewish state in 1948 until well into the 21st century.
He was a towering figure on the Israeli centre- left and served several short terms as prime minister before being elected to the largely ceremonial role of president from 2007 until 2014.
His résumé was broad, and he remained a player on the world stage until the stroke on Sept. 13.
Peres was known for his work as Israel’s foreign minister during the negotiation of the Oslo Accords, the 1993 Israeli- Palestinian agreement that many hoped would bring an end to decades of conflict.
Peres was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his work on the deal, sharing the honour with Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister, and Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader and chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist in 1995.
Peres’s tenure in power lasted through 10 U. S. presidents. He served in top government posts, including two terms as prime minister. He was also foreign minister, information minister, finance minister and defence minister.
He remained an influential figure in Israel and abroad, maintaining an active schedule through the Peres Center for Peace, a nonprofit organization that promotes reconciliation, tolerance and innovation.
Peres remained an optimist and throughout his seven years as president he continued to call for a two- state solution even as many Israelis soured on the idea.
“There is no other solution,” he said in 2013. “Peace for Israel is not just a strategic choice. It is a moral call which stems from the depth of our heritage.
“Israel should implement the two- state solution for her own sake, because if we should lose our majority, and today we are almost equal, we cannot remain a Jewish state or a democratic state.”
The former president and prime minister had been “fighting for his life,” doctors said Tuesday as he suffered a rapid deterioration to his condition, the Times of Israel reported. He died at Tel Hashomer Hospital, after his family members and those close to him who had been called late Tuesday to say their goodbyes.
ISRAEL SHOULD IMPLEMENT THE TWO-STATE SOLUTION FOR HER OWN SAKE, BECAUSE IF WE SHOULD LOSE OUR MAJORITY, AND TODAY WE ARE ALMOST EQUAL, WE CANNOT REMAIN A JEWISH STATE OR A DEMOCRATIC STATE. — FORMER ISRAELI PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES