The world community woke to the sad news this morning of the passing on of former President Shimon Peres of the State of Israel.  Although the former Statesman had been seriously ill over the past fortnight following his hospitalisation on 13th September, we still held out hope that he would recover.

Former President Peres will be fondly remembered for his unwavering commitment to the two-state solution with Palestine, which unfortunately is still to be achieved.

President Peres is of the rare breed of politicians that allowed reason to transform his thinking on the question of Palestinian Statehood.

The late Mr Peres will be remembered for the leading role he played in the development and fruition of the Oslo Accord with the Late President Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for which they were deservedly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.

The people of South Africa were fortunate to have hosted him when he visited our country last year.

The Government and the people of South Africa join the world community in mourning the passing of this great Statesman and architect of peace.

As we remember Mr Peres, we call on both the Israelis and Palestinians to return to genuine negotiations in order to accomplish and realise the vision that  Presidents Arafat, Rabin, and Peres started in Oslo more than twenty years ago. This will be a fitting tribute to the life and memory of President Peres.

 

Issued by Department of International Relations and Cooperation