Former Israeli President Shimon Peres Dies at 93

staff@people.com (Alexia Fernandez)
Updated
Former Israeli President Shimon Peres Dies at 93

The former president of Israel, Shimon Peres, died on Wednesday in a Tel Aviv area hospital at 93.

Peres was one of the last surviving founders of Israel. He died about two weeks after suffering a stroke.

President Barack Obama said Peres led an "extraordinary life," in a statement obtained by PEOPLE on Tuesday night.

"Tonight, Michelle and I join people across Israel, the United States and around the world in honoring the extraordinary life of our dear friend Shimon Peres," he said. "A light has gone out, but the hope he gave us will burn forever."



Peres' doctors kept him unconscious and on a breathing tube since his stroke, hoping it would give his brain a chance to heal, according to the New York Times.

Peres served as prime minister of Israel twice, as well as positions as minister of defense, foreign affairs, finance and transportation, and later as president from 2007 to 2014.

George H. W. Bush, 92, said Peres led a "singular life of service" in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

"Barbara and I join Shimon Peres’ countless admirers around the world in saluting his singular life of service — to the universal cause of freedom, to the timeless cause of Israel, to the noblest cause of peace," he said. "It was by his innate humanity, his decency, that Shimon inspired the world over and helped pave a path to peace broad enough that future generations will walk it one day, side-by side."

Peres' last tweet was on Aug. 7, where he mentioned turning 93 and joining SnapChat.



Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a joint statement on Peres' death.

"I'll never forget how happy he was 23 years ago when he signed the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn, heralding a more hopeful era in Israeli-Palestinian relations," it read. "His critics called him a dreamer. That he was – a lucid, eloquent dreamer until the very end. Thank goodness."

Peres is survived by his three children Zvia, Yoni and Chemi, along with their families. His wife, Sonya Gelman, died in 2011.