The European Union issued a clarion call to Israel in response to the death of former President Shimon Peres, urging the Jewish State to redouble its efforts to reach a final status agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
EU High Representative and foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement issued Wednesday morning that she personally was “heartbroken by the death of President Shimon Peres, a man of peace, and an immense source of inspiration.
“President Shimon Peres has never lost hope in peace, and has never stopped working to turn hope into reality,” she said.
“Even in the darkest moments his wit, his irony, his obstinate pursuit of dialogue have been a source of inspiration for many around the world, including myself.
“President Peres believed that the best way to serve the State of Israel and to deliver security to the Israeli people was through peace with the Palestinians. We can only honor his memory with a daily commitment to reconciliation, preserving and advancing his vision for a two-state solution,” she maintained.
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, recently re-elected to a second term and known for his anti-Israel positions, reinforced Mogherini’s statement with one of his own.
“Shimon Peres’s role in Israel-Palestine negotiations… should be the spur for a renewed drive for peace and justice,” Corbyn tweeted in a statement on the Twitter social networking site.
Peres was the last living founding father of the State of Israel, the ninth president of the country. He passed away early Wednesday morning two weeks after he was struck down by a massive cerebral hemorrhage. He was hospitalized at Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer Hospital, where he was sedated and on life support, reportedly passing away without pain, hospital sources said. His casket will lie in state in the Knesset in Jerusalem on Thursday, where dignitaries and citizens will pay their final respects; the funeral is set for Friday.