Peres’ son-in-law and personal physician Rafi Valdan said earlier in the day it was too soon to tell whether there was lasting neurological damage from the stroke that afflicted the right side of Peres’ brain, but the broader health indicators were good.
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He had been sedated in the intensive care unit and was breathing with the help of a respirator.
Dr. Yitzhak Kreiss, director of the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, said Peres was in a medically induced coma to allow him to rest after experiencing significant bleeding in the brain.
“Myself and my family members are going through hard times, difficult hours”, he said.
He thanked the Israeli public for offering its support and prayers.
“I know that my father did not care about anything as much as he cares about people, as much as he cares about Israel, the Jewish people, and the people in Israel”, he said.
Kreiss described Peres’s condition as critical but stable.
Earlier, Israeli media reported the bleeding had stopped.
“He is on a respirator and lightly sedated but is conducting actions, what is called in medical terms “simple actions” and is not now unconscious”, he said.
Doctors later decided not to operate for the time being.
Nickolay Mladenov, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said he was praying for Peres, calling him “a patriarch of peace and progress”.
He had remained active since completing his seven-year term as president in 2014, refusing to bow into retirement.
The last of Israel’s founding fathers, Peres has held almost every major office in the country, including prime minister twice and president, a mostly ceremonially post, from 2007 to 2014. In that role, Peres concluded the Oslo Peace Accords, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 with Rabin and Yasser Arafat.
Tuesday’s news is the latest health scare for the elder statesman.
His spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch said Tuesday was no exception, with Peres waking early to read the daily newspapers before delivering an hour-long lecture and then uploading a video to his Facebook account in which he encouraged the public to buy locally made products.
President Reuven Rivlin says he is in touch with Peres’s family, as he pays tribute to his predecessor’s tenacity and will to live.
Earlier this year, Peres was twice hospitalized for heart problems but quickly released.
As president, a largely ceremonial office, he cultivated an image as the country’s elder statesman and became one of its most popular public figures.
As Israel’s ninth president, he addressed the Turkish parliament in 2007, becoming the first Israeli president to speak to a Muslim country’s legislature.
In a message posted on Facebook, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wished Peres a speedy recovery.
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“Shimon, we love you and the entire nation wishes you get well”, Netanyahu said.
