![Shimon Peres captured during the World Economic Forum on the Middle East at the Dead Sea in Jordan, May 17, 2009. Photo by World Economic Forum Nader Daoud [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/mynewsla.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/1024px-Shimon_Peres_-_World_Economic_Forum_on_the_Middle_East_2009.jpg?ssl=1)
“… Israeli Americans join millions around the world in mourning and saluting one of the most beloved, visionary, and respected Israeli leaders in history,” the organization said in a statement.
Peres died in a Tel Aviv-area hospital Wednesday two weeks after suffering a massive stroke. He was 93.
IAC praised Peres for his intensive but unavailing pursuit of an Arab- Israeli peace settlement, which resulted in his sharing a Nobel Peace Prize with Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat in 1994.
“…We salute Peres’ courage to cross physical and metaphorical borders in his unwavering conviction that prosperity, peace and security for the State of Israel was possible,” the statement said.
IAC also credited Peres for Israel’s technological advances, calling him a passionate champion and driver of Israel’s emergence as a high-tech powerhouse.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Hillary and Bill Clinton would be among the foreign dignitaries attending Peres’ funeral Friday.
—City News Service