Shimon Peres, former Israeli president who won a Nobel Peace Prize for attempting to end the century-old conflict with Palestine, died today, two weeks after suffering a massive stroke, triggering an outpouring of emotional tributes from around the world.
Peres, 93, who twice served as prime minister of Israel and later as the country’s ninth president, suffered severe organ failure yesterday as well as irreversible brain damage caused by the massive hemorrhagic stroke he sustained on September 13.
An ardent admirer of India, Peres often hailed the country as the “greatest democracy on earth” and even backed a permanent seat for it at the UN Security Council.
Peres had been hospitalised at the Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer since suffering the stroke. He died in his sleep at around 3:00 am.
“Today with deep sorrow we bid farewell to our beloved father, the ninth President of Israel,” his son Chemi Peres said.
“Our father’s legacy has always been to look to tomorrow. We were privileged to be part of his private family, but today we sense that the entire nation of Israel and the global community share this great loss. We share this pain together,” he told reporters.