By William Booth
The Washington Post
JERUSALEM — Shimon Peres, former president of Israel and a founder of the Jewish state, was described as “fighting for life” by the Israeli media on Tuesday after the 93-year-old Nobel laureate’s condition deteriorated.
Citing sources close to the family, Israel’s Channel 2 said Peres was in danger of “serious organ failure” two weeks after suffering a massive stroke. His son-in-law and personal physician, Rafi Valden, described Peres’ condition as “extremely serious.”
His family was gathered at his bedside at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Medical Center. He was sedated and breathing with a respirator in the intensive care unit.
Peres had appeared to be recuperating until the Tuesday’s reversal.
Peres is one of Israel’s last surviving members of the generation of leaders who founded the state in 1948.
In recent years, Peres was Israel’s elder statesman and Israel’s face to the world. Serving in the largely ceremonial post of president, he was a voice for peace and urged his country to move forward with negotiations with the Palestinians.
His resume was broad and he remained a player on the world stage until a stroke fell him on Sept. 13.
Peres’ tenure in power lasted through 10 U.S. presidents. He served in top government posts, including three terms as prime minister. He was also foreign minister, information minister, finance minister and defense minister.
Peres shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 with the late Israel Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat for the Oslo Accords, a preliminary peace accord that has since withered.
He also remained a controversial figure for his role in fostering Jewish settlements in the occupied territories and his leadership during a deadly attack on a United Nations base in southern Lebanon in 1996.
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