Former Israeli president and elder statesman Shimon Peres, a joint winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize and an influential figure in Israeli politics for 70 years, died in a hospital yesterday, aged 93, two weeks after suffering a massive stroke.
A campaigner for Middle East peace who remained energetic until his final days, Peres was mourned by world leaders and praised for his tireless engagement.
“A light has gone out,” US President Barack Obama said.
Photo: Reuters
“There are few people who we share this world with who change the course of human history, not just through their role in human events, but because they expand our moral imagination and force us to expect more of ourselves,” Obama said in a statement. “My friend Shimon was one of those people.”
Despite decades of rivalry with Peres, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a right-winger who defeated the then-Labor Party leader in a 1996 election, praised him as a stalwart of the center-left and a visionary.
“There were many things we agreed upon, and the number grew as the years passed, but we had disagreements, a natural part of democratic life,” Netanyahu said after holding a minute’s silence at a specially convened Cabinet meeting.
“Shimon won international recognition that spanned the globe. World leaders wanted to be in his proximity and respected him. Along with us, many of them will accompany him on his last journey to eternal rest in the soil of Jerusalem,” he said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement saying he had sent a condolence letter to the family expressing his “sadness and regret” and praising Peres’ “intensive efforts to reach out for a lasting peace ... until the last days.”
It was not clear if he would attend Peres’ funeral, which is to take place today at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl cemetery, in a section dedicated to “Great Leaders of the Nation.”
In the Gaza Strip, Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the enclave’s Hamas rulers, said: “The Palestinian people are happy over the departure of this criminal, who was involved in many crimes and in the bloodshed of the Palestinian people.”
Obama, Britain’s Prince Charles and former US president Bill Clinton are among those expected to attend, Israeli radio reported, although Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not immediately confirm the attendance list.
French President Francois Hollande also confirmed he would attend, alongside his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.
The announcement of the death was made at Tel Hashomer Hospital by Peres’ son, Chemi, and son-in-law, Rafi Walden.
“His life ended abruptly when he was still working on his great passion, strengthening the country and striving for peace. His legacy will remain with us all,” said Walden, who was also Peres’ personal physician.
Polish-born Peres, whose family moved to then British-ruled Palestine in the 1930s, was part of almost every major political development in Israel since its founding in 1948. He served in a dozen Cabinets and was twice prime minister, though he never won a general election, struggling to connect with ordinary voters.
He was first elected to Israel’s parliament in 1959 and, barring a brief interlude in early 2006, held his seat for 48 years, until he became president in 2007.
In every role he undertook — from forging Israel’s defense strategy in the 1950s to running his eponymous peace foundation — Peres was known for his energy and enthusiasm, even recording jokey YouTube videos into his 90s.
“Optimists and pessimists die the same way,” he said. “They just live differently. I prefer to live as an optimist.”
He shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with the former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for reaching an interim peace deal in 1993, the Oslo Accords, which never turned into a lasting treaty.
Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by an Israeli ultranationalist who opposed the interim accords, and it was Peres who took over as prime minister after Rabin’s death.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS