Simon Peres, the last of Israel’s founding fathers, died early
Wednesday morning at the age of 93.
The 93-year-old died in his sleep at around 3:00 am local time
on Wednesday, Rafi Walden, Peres’s personal physician who is also his
son-in-law, told AFP.
He died surrounded by family members, a source close to Peres
told AFP.
Peres’s office sent a statement early Wednesday announcing that
his family will speak to the press at the Sheba Medical Center at 7:00am and
will be joined by the hospital’s director Professor Itzik Kreiss
The former president and prime minister had been “fighting for
his life,” doctors said Tuesday as he suffered a rapid deterioration to his
condition, two weeks after a major stroke.
Peres died overnight Tuesday-Wednesday at the Sheba Medical
Center at Tel Hashomer hospital, after his family members and those close to
him who had been called late Tuesday to say their final goodbyes.
Doctors said Tuesday evening that he had suffered irreversible
brain damage.
Peres was hospitalized at the Sheba Medical Center on September
13 after suffering a major stroke. He had been under sedation since then, with
doctors periodically
News of Peres’s stroke earlier this month sent shockwaves
through the country, which feared the imminent loss of the last surviving link
to its founding fathers.
Over a seven-decade career, the elder statesman of Israeli
politics and one of the country’s most admired symbols has held virtually every
senior political office, including two stints as prime minister and extended
terms as foreign, defense and finance minister.
He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in reaching an
interim peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Long a divisive personality in politics, Peres finally became
one of Israel’s most popular public figures in his later years.
World leaders sent wishes of a speedy recovery to the former
president, recalling his achievements and warm personality.
Peres had recently undergone surgery to receive an artificial
pacemaker after he was diagnosed with an abnormal heart rhythm in July
following a series of minor health scares.
The implant was
recommended by Peres’s doctors, including personal physician Rafi Walden, after
he was diagnosed in July with atrial fibrillation.
He suffered a mild heart attack in January and underwent a
cardiac angioplasty to open a blocked artery. He had been hospitalized twice
after suffering chest pains.
Source: AFP
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