ISRAEL’S PERES REMEMBERED AS VISIONARY DEDICATED TO PEACE IN MIDDLE EAST.
World leaders react to death of former president
• Current and former world leaders mourned the passing of Israeli statesman Shimon Peres on Wednesday, praising him as a visionary who committed his life to the elusive goal of lasting peace in the Middle East.
“Shimon Peres was, above all, a man of peace and a man dedicated to the wellbeing of the Jewish people,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
“Mr. Peres made an enormous contribution to the founding and building of the state of Israel. He devoted his life to promoting understanding between his country and its neighbours.”
U. S. President Barack Obama described Peres as a “soldier for Israel, for the Jewish people, for justice, for peace, and for the belief that we can be true to our best selves — to the very end of our time on Earth.”
Peres, who died early Wednesday at the age of 93, was awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize after he secretly helped broker the historic Oslo interim peace accords with the Palestinians a year earlier. He shared the prize with Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Former U. S. president Bill Clinton recalled Peres’ joy 23 years ago when he signed the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn, ushering in an optimistic moment in Israeli-Palestinian relations.
“His critics called him a dreamer. That he was — a lucid, eloquent dreamer until the very end. Thank goodness,” Clinton said in a joint statement with his wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. “Let those of us who loved him and love his nation keep his dream alive.”
Peres, who served in the largely ceremonial role of president from 2007 to 2014, represented a moderate face of Israel after the more hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in 2009.
He remained active at his peace centre, which sponsored programs promoting Israeli- Arab coexistence, until weeks before his death. He suffered a major stroke two weeks ago that led to bleeding in his brain.
“Though he grew older, his spirit never did,” said former British prime minister Tony Blair, who also worked as a Mideast peace envoy.
“Even in the most difficult hours, he remained an optimist about the prospects for reconciliation and peace,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.
Trudeau, who plans to attend the funeral Friday in Israel, recalled visiting Peres when the latter was president.
“He regaled me with stories of his friendship for my father and his deep affection for Canadians,” Trudeau said.
In a statement, interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose said few had accomplished as much for Israel and the Jewish people over the decades as Peres, and that his ties with Canada were “strong and lasting.”
Tributes came from across the globe.
The Queen sent her condolences, and said she was “greatly saddened” to learn of his death.
Also offering condolences was Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who described Peres as a partner in the “peace of the brave” with the late Arafat and Rabin.
Rafael Barak, the Israeli ambassador to Canada, said “Shimon Peres woke up every day with one goal in mind — to serve the country he loved. ... His legacy of peace and his vision for a better future will live on forever.”