Israel’s Shimon Peres in serious condition after Stroke

Shimon Peres, Israel’s former president and prime minister, was in serious but stable condition in a hospital outside Tel Aviv after suffering a stroke and brain hemorrhage, his doctor said.

Peres, 93, felt unwell after giving a one-hour speech Tuesday and was taken to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, where he suffered the stroke, his son-in-law and personal physician, Rafi Walden, said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning. Peres was sedated and put on a respirator at the hospital, Peres’s office said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday night.

Peres’s blood pressure and heart rate are stable and surgery is not being considered, Walden said. The fact that Peres was responsive when the sedative dose was lowered gives some reason for optimism, but it’s too early to assess if he suffered any brain damage, Walden said.

Peres shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat for the 1993 peace accords. In January, Peres was hospitalized twice after experiencing a mild heart attack and an irregular heartbeat, and had a pacemaker implanted last week.

Peres’ son Chemi Peres addressed reporters outside the hospital late Tuesday night and said the family “will take decisions” as necessary.

“These are not easy hours for me or my family,” he said.