Widely respected overseas as a “warrior for peace”, he shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for signing the 1993 interim Oslo peace accords. “We are very moved and touched by his condition, but also very moved by the reaction of the Israeli public”. “We are trying to reduce some of the sedation in order to evaluate him, and that’s a good sign”.
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“I think that I speak for the entire Israeli people, as well as for many people outside Israel, who feel a certain relief this evening”, the prime minister said.
At a briefing for reporters outside the hospital near Tel Aviv, Prof Kreiss said Mr Peres was “in a pretty tough condition”. His son, Hemi Peres, said the family has been overwhelmed with the love and affection it has received from Israel and around the world.
Initially, the office of the ninth president said Peres was “conscious and in stable condition, but suddenly, his condition took a turn for the worse”.
Writing on Twitter, Netanyahu said, “Shimon, we love you and all the people wish you a [speedy] recovery”.
A spokeswoman for Shimon Peres says the former Israeli president has suffered a stroke and been rushed to a hospital. “And I pray with all my heart, together with my family, that things will improve from this point on”, he said.
As president, a largely ceremonial office, he cultivated an image as the country’s elder statesman and became a popular fixture at global conferences like the World Economic Forum in Davos. He returned to the hospital 10 days later after suffering from an irregular heartbeat.
His efforts at maintaining peace in the region materialized in the creation of the Peres Center for Peace, which is a Non-Governmental Organization established to promote a lasting peace.
Peres’ three children have arrived at the hospital.
After being discharged, he told reporters he was “so happy to return to work, that was the whole goal of this operation”.
“We are still in a battle and it is the beginning of the battle”, he told Israel’s Army Radio. He was a protege of David Ben-Gurion, who later became Israel’s first prime minister and named Peres at age 24 to head Israel’s navy.
He hawkishly rejected any compromise with Arab states, but said he was converted after 1977, when Egyptian president Anwar Sadat made a historic visit to Jerusalem, leading to the first Arab-Israeli peace treaty.
He became director general of the nascent defence ministry at just 29 years old.
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He was also the architect of Israel’s secret nuclear programme.
