On the evening of Sept. 13, it looked like it was all over. Former President Shimon Peres, 93, the last active leader of Israel’s founding generation, was hospitalized in critical condition after suffering a stroke. At first, he was conscious and relatively lucid, but after about half an hour, it emerged that the internal bleeding in Peres’ brain was spreading. Doctors were forced to sedate and intubate him. In a statement to journalists, his son Chemi said, “It seems that we will soon be required to make decisions, but not at the moment.”
It was clear to the family’s inner circle that should the situation continue to deteriorate, they would let Peres depart this world peacefully. They would not beg the doctors to keep him on life support in a persistent vegetative state, as in the case of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who also suffered a stroke, in January 2006, but only died eight years later, in 2014.
The morning of Sept. 14, things looked more optimistic. Peres had survived the night, and the bleeding in his brain had stopped. When doctors woke him and tried to communicate with him, Peres responded with a handshake. A cautious sense of optimism returned to the corridors of the giant Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. Was it possible that the ultimate Israeli comeback kid would do it again?
At the moment, Peres’ chances of recovery are not good. At the age of 93, miracles are hard to come by. On the other hand, one should not forget that Peres has been the most eulogized figure in the history of Israeli politics, and each time, he survived to have the last laugh on his eulogizers.
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