Amos Oz says Peres was deeply innocent

Israeli author Amoz Oz eulogizes Peres’s “deep innocence,” the “innocence that is not the opposite of intelligence.”

“Because of his great dreams, people called him the dreamer,” Oz says, proceeding to compare him to the biblical Joseph. Like Joseph, “he saw most of his dreams come true.”

Oz says that Peres’s innocence may have caused him to stumble in politics, but says he was a true diplomat.

“There are those who say peace is not possible. But peace is essential and unavoidable,” because neither the Israelis and Palestinians are going anyway.

Both Israelis and Palestinians won’t be “honeymooning” anytime soon, so there is “no choice” but to divide the land, he says. Most people know this, “but where are the brave leaders” who will do it? he asks. “Where are Shimon Peres’s successors?”

Oz calls Peres “a close friend” and “someone I loved very much.”