Peres’s son says father considered himself ‘shy’

Yoni Peres says his father always saw himself as “shy.”

“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, which wasn’t always expressed in words. 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,” Peres continues. “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,” he says.