Former Israeli leader hospitalized after stroke

While his condition was first described as stable, reports now say the former President is “in serious condition”.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted the head of the hospital’s stroke unit as saying “the damage isn’t the main issue now”.

“We’re working on getting him to a state in which his life won’t be in jeopardy”, Dr. David Orion said. It seems that we will soon be required to make decisions but not at the moment.

“Myself and my family members are going through hard times, difficult hours”, he said. We are receiving a huge number of messages from Israel and overseas from all our friends who are surrounding us with love and care.

“And I will take this opportunity on his behalf to send all of you his love”.

Considered the last surviving member of Israel’s founding fathers, he served as Prime Minister twice – from 1984 to 1986 as part of a rotational government, and for a few months in 1995 and 1996 after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.

Peres shared a Nobel Peace Prize with the assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, following a 1993 interim peace deal.

The Israel’s ninth president was hospitalized for treatment in the Tel Hashomer Hospital outside Tel Aviv, the statement said.

“In my opinion”, Peres said at the time, “everything was done according to clear logic and in a responsible way. Shimon, we love you, and the entire nation prays for your recovery”.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog also wished the elder statesman a rapid recovery.

He said doctors were meeting to decide how to proceed.

On January 14, 2016 the same hospital released the senior statesman in stable condition after he had suffered a mild heart attack. He returned to the hospital 10 days later after suffering from an irregular heartbeat.

Since leaving the presidency, Peres frequently hosted public events at his peace center, bringing together Arabs and Jews in efforts to promote coexistence.

“I’m so happy to return to work, that was the whole objective of this operation”, he told reporters.

The Israeli media reported that the president had two CT scans on Tuesday night that showed no change or improvement.

Born in Poland in 1923, Peres emigrated to what was then British mandatory Palestine when he was 11.

He became director general of the nascent defence ministry at only 29 years old.