Peres’s daughter says father was ‘in love with Israel’

Tsivya Walden, Peres’s daughter, offers personal recollections of her father.

“The world will remember the determined Peres who never stopped, who kept running despite the obstacles, and despite the falls along the way,” she says.

“I will remember him during this past year at Friday night dinners at our home, when he was the first to rise for Kiddush, holding the booklet with the Shabbat songs printed in tiny letters, trying to make out the words of the songs through his thick lenses, never skipping a word, singing at the top of his lungs.

“He was described as a great negotiator, as someone who always found a way to get what he wanted. “To me he was a young man who used his creative skills to get us to eat. Who cut sandwiches into triangles and diamonds. ‘Try this. It’s a Burmese sandwich.’ My father pulled out all the creative stops, and used every trick of the trade to tempt us to open our mouths and eat and grow.”

Walden says her father “had a long and good life.”

“And all those years he was a man in love: In love with Sonia – we were just about to dedicate the Sonia House – a wellness center for the children of the Ben Shemen Youth Village, where they first met and fell in love,” he says.

“Mother believed that every injustice in the world could be corrected and was always there to listen, support and help. Father admired this trait in her.”

“My father had a long and good life,” she continues.

“And all those years he was a man in love: In love with his family, with the people of Israel, with the State of Israel. A man who loved life in the present and was in love with the promise of the future.”

“My father, you were a lover of life, who sprung like a lion at daybreak to fulfill his mission.”