The following statements were issued today.
President Barack Obama
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. My friend Shimon was one of those people.
Shimon Peres
once said that, “I learned that public service is a privilege that must
be based on moral foundations.” 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—a
Founding Father of the State of Israel and a statesman whose commitment
to Israel's security and pursuit of peace was rooted in his own
unshakeable moral foundation and unflagging optimism.
I will always
be grateful that I was able to call Shimon my friend. I first visited
him in Jerusalem when I was a senator, and when I asked for his advice,
he told me that while people often say that the future
belongs to the young, it’s the present that really belongs to the
young. “Leave the future to me,” he said, “I have time.” And he was
right. Whether it was during our conversations in the Oval Office,
walking together through Yad Vashem, or when I presented
him with America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, Shimon
always looked to the future. He was guided by a vision of the human
dignity and progress that he knew people of goodwill could advance
together. He brought young people from around
the world together because he knew they could carry us closer to our
ideals of justice and equality.
Shimon was the
essence of Israel itself—the courage of Israel’s fight for independence,
the optimism he shared with his wife Sonya as they helped make the
desert bloom, and the perseverance that led him to serve
his nation in virtually every position in government across the entire
life of the State of Israel. As Americans, we are in his debt because,
having worked with every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy, no one
did more over so many years as Shimon Peres
to build the alliance between our two countries—an unbreakable alliance
that today is closer and stronger than it has ever been.
Perhaps because
he had seen Israel surmount overwhelming odds, Shimon never gave up on
the possibility of peace between Israelis, Palestinians and Israel’s
neighbors—not even after the heartbreak of the night in
Tel Aviv that took Yitzhak Rabin. “Dear friends,” he told us during my
visit to Israel three years ago, “after everything I have seen in my
life, I earned the right to believe that peace is attainable.” Tonight,
I can think of no greater tribute to his life
than to renew our commitment to the peace that we know is possible.
Our thoughts are with his children Zvia, Yoni and Chemi, their families
and all who loved and admired Shimon Peres, of blessed memory.
A light has
gone out, but the hope he gave us will burn forever. Shimon Peres was a
soldier for Israel, for the Jewish people, for justice, for peace, and
for the belief that we can be true to our best selves -
to the very end of our time on Earth, and in the legacy that we leave
to others. For the gift of his friendship and the example of his
leadership, todah rabah, Shimon.
Vice President Joe Biden
Shimon Peres was one of the few men in the world whose experience was surpassed only by his genuine wisdom and his eloquence.
When
he talked, everyone listened. And later, long after he’d left the
room, you remembered what he said. It crept into your soul and stayed
with you.
Shimon Peres was truly a force of nature.
Today,
we have lost an amazing leader, and a powerful voice for peace and
progress in our world. His loss will be felt not only in Israel but
all over the world—in every heart he touched, including mine.
It
was my great privilege over the past 40 years to benefit from his
friendship and his counsel. And each time I met with him, I was struck
anew
by his incredible compassion, his boundless energy, and his ceaseless
curiosity. Even at 93, Shimon was still looking for the next big
idea—the next dream to bring to life.
He
was part of that exceptional generation of founders—the men and women
who recognized the necessity for a Jewish State of Israel and then
willed
it into existence, despite overwhelming odds.
There
was never any inevitability to the success of Israel. Only the
iron-clad determination of those who made it so. Ben-Gurion. Meir.
Begin.
Rabin. And the youngest among them, a kid still in his early 20s named
Shimon Peres, who would go on to dedicate his life and his service to
Israel for 70 more years.
He was a treasure. He held every office. Earned every award and recognition—including America’s highest civilian honors.
And he never stopped serving. He didn’t know the meaning of the word quit.
He
made sure Israel was strong and secure—so that Israel could always
defend herself. And then he worked tirelessly to make Israel stronger
through
his unwavering commitment to peace. The last time I sat with Shimon
back in March, at his Center for Peace in Tel Aviv, he said “we gave up
war, because war led nowhere.”
Every nation has a soul—someone who embodies the spirit of a people.
And for so many years, Shimon Peres was the soul of Israel. The world is a little darker without him in it.
Jill
and I send our deepest condolences to all the people of Israel. And
our prayers go out to his children, Zvia, Yoni, and Chemi, and their
families. May his memory continue to be a blessing to us all.
National Security Advisor Susan Rice
I
am deeply saddened by the passing of former President Shimon Peres,
Israel’s national treasure and one of its last remaining founders. A
son of the shtetl who rose to
become one of the world’s most beloved and respected statesmen,
President Peres’ life was the life of the state of Israel—vibrant,
courageous, determined.
Over
the course of a political career that spanned more than six decades, a
dozen cabinets, and ten American presidents, President Peres inspired
generations with his profound
commitment to his country. He was dreamer and a doer, working to make
the desert bloom and build the state of Israel brick by brick. He was a
warrior who helped secure Israel against its adversaries and a
peacemaker who knew, as he liked to say, that there
are no hopeless situations, only hopeless people—falling ill 23 years
to the day that he joined President Clinton, Prime Minister Rabin, and
Yasir Arafat for that historic handshake on the White House lawn. He
was also, as he would happily remind you, an
excellent cow-milker and shepherd in his kibbutznik days.
The
unbreakable alliance between the United States and Israel stands as an
enduring tribute to President Peres’ years of diplomacy and eloquent
advocacy on Israel’s behalf.
I’m proud to have called him a cherished friend, a wise and steadying
presence during difficult times.
As
the inventor of the eminently quotable “Peres-ism,” President Peres
once observed that “Optimists and pessimists die the same way. They
just live differently. I prefer
to live as an optimist.” For 93 years, he did just that—enriching the
state of Israel and the world with his light, his laughter, and his
abiding loyalty to the land he loved. I extend my deepest condolences
to President Peres’ children Zvia, Yoni, and Chemi
and to their families. In the words of the Jewish tradition President
Peres valued so deeply, we pray that his memory be a blessing.
Sources: The White House, Offices of the Press Secretary and Vice President
