Former Israeli President Shimon Peres passed away a year ago on Sept. 28, 2016. His friends testify that in his late years Peres was concerned yet optimistic.

Concerned, as he was worried for Israel. He became especially worried with the establishment of the current Netanyahu government, with its policy of settlement expansion, and the right wing’s onslaught on Israel’s democratic institutions. These factors, he felt, had generated Israel’s unprecedented international isolation. He had lost trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intentions regarding a two-state solution.

Optimistic, because Peres believed in the fortitude and resourcefulness of the next generation of Israelis to bring Israel back to the path of peace and democracy based on its 1948 declaration of independence.

Peres was in fact a determined optimist, marveling in Israel’s birth — the rebirth of the Jewish nation — and the development of its deterrence power, of which he was an architect. He was convinced that Israel was strong enough to make the necessary concessions to achieve peace with the Arab countries and to reach an agreement on a two-state solution with the Palestinians.