Donald Trump says Peres personified ‘dignity and grace’

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump extended his condolences to the family of former president Shimon Peres, who died early Wednesday two weeks after suffering a severe stroke.

Trump lauded the “dignity and grace” of Israel’s last founding father.

“Melania and I extend our deepest condolences to the family of Shimon Peres on the passing of their beloved father, grandfather and great-grandfather,” he said in a statement.

“On the world stage, Shimon Peres was a visible and highly effective patriarch to another, much larger family — the people of Israel, whom he led as prime minister and president,” he added.

“Shimon Peres’s life always pointed toward peace. Bearing witness to more than his share of war and its human toll, Shimon Peres devoted his leadership skills to cultivating peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors. He was a consummate statesman, a distinguished patriot and a friend of peace-loving people everywhere. With his hand outstretched in peace and friendship, Shimon Peres personified dignity and grace in a region of the world where both run far too short. May he rest in peace.”

Trump’s running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, said “the world will miss” Shimon Peres, who “showed equal courage in war and peace.”

Today Israel lost a visionary, and the world lost a great statesman. Peres personified courage in the face of battle & in pursuit of peace.

— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) September 28, 2016

Fulfilling Prophet Joel, "Your old men shall dream dreams," Shimon Peres showed equal courage in war and peace. The world will miss him.

— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) September 28, 2016

Peres died in his sleep at around 3 a.m. local time on Wednesday, said Dr. Rafi Walden, his personal physician and son-in-law.

News of Peres’s stroke earlier this month sent shock waves throughout the country, sparking introspection over the imminent loss of Israelis’ last politically active leader seen by many as a final link to the nation’s founding generation.

Over a seven-decade career, the elder statesman of Israeli politics and one of the country’s most admired symbols has held virtually every senior political office, including two stints as prime minister and extended terms as foreign, defense and finance minister. He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in reaching an interim peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Long a divisive personality in politics, Peres became one of Israel’s most popular and unifying public figures in his later years.