Peres praises Obama’s leadership, strength of character

Peres says that during Obama’s previous visit to Israel, the American leader had asked him for advice.

“It is not in my nature to let questions go unanswered,” Peres says. “So I suggested that while people say that the future belongs to the young, it is the present that really belongs to the young.”

He adds, “Leave the future to me. I have time,” eliciting laughs from the dignitaries gathered at his residence.

Peres says that he prayed Obama would meet the challenges facing him “with wisdom and determination, without losing hope, without allowing others to lose hope.” Obama says his prayers were answered, because “after all, they came from Jerusalem.”

Peres praises Obama’s leadership and “strength of character,” his principles and the fact that he has “never surrendered to hopelessness,” standing “firmly by his vision.”

The president says Obama’s values serve both the American nation and Israel, as well as “all nations around the world” — embodying the Jewish principle of tikkun olam.

Peres adds that “the Israel of today has exceeded the vision we had 65 years ago… the United States of America helped us to make this possible.”