Full text of Yoni Peres’s eulogy for his father, Shimon Peres

The full text of Yoni Peres’s eulogy for his father, Shimon Peres, at Peres’s funeral in Jerusalem, September 30, 2016:

So much has already been said and written about this giant of a man – Shimon Peres, statesman, intellectual and visionary. Words cannot adequately describe what he did for the State of Israel, the Jewish people and humanity.

However, today I would like to bid farewell to my father.

I was born and raised in a reality quite different from today.

Israel was a tiny, young country faced with formidable challenges.

That is why father decided to dedicate his life to the country and its people. My sister, my brother and I were raised with great devotion by our beloved mother, Sonia, of blessed memory.

As a child, I was privileged to observe and listen in amazement to his conversations with writers, poets, artists and intellectuals.

Despite the many hurdles and difficulties along the way, he persevered and achieved great things.

Father considered himself shy, even though he was always under the spotlight. I must have inherited that trait from him. We had a deep and special bond. Despite his many absences, he always took a loving interest in us, even from great distances. He helped me through hard times, and I tried to be at his side too in difficult times, to help him even though he had enormous reserves of inner strength.

My father was very sensitive and caring towards all people. He wasn’t ruled by his ego, he treated everyone as an equal and was always attentive, interested and supportive.

He loved his family dearly, and with all the new members that joined us.

In recent years, he basked in the love of millions in Israel and the world. What a sight it was to see.

When asked what he would like to have inscribed on his tombstone after death, he said, without hesitation, “He was too young to die.”

Indeed, my dear father, this is how I feel – you left us prematurely. There is so much more you could have done.

I bid you farewell with love and longing. May you rest in peace.