Former Israeli president Shimon Peres hospitalized after major stroke

Shimon Peres, the 93-year-old former Israeli president and prime minister, was hospitalized Tuesday after suffering a major stroke.

Peres is sedated and on a respirator, his doctor, Yitzhak Kreiss, said during a press conference, and the Nobel Peace Prize winner will soon undergo several evaluations. His son, Chemi, said his father is a "special man. I remain optimistic although these are not simple hours. I know that my father did not care about anything as much as he cares about people, as much as he cares about Israel, the Jewish people, and the people in Israel. And I will take this opportunity on his behalf to send all of you his love."

Before he retired in 2014 at the end of his seven-year term as president, Peres spent more than half a century in Israeli politics. While serving as Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's foreign minister, he finished the Oslo Peace Accords, and after Rabin's 1995 assassination, became prime minister. In January, Peres underwent surgery after suffering a minor heart attack.

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