Israeli media: Former Israeli President Shimon Peres dies

Israel's President Shimon Peres speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, at his residence in Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. Peres said the killing of civilians by Israeli air raids on Gaza presents a moral dilemma, but argues there is scant alternative as long as the Islamic militants who rule the coastal strip refuse to stop firing rockets at much of Israel. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty)
Israel's President Shimon Peres speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, at his residence in Jerusalem, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. Peres said the killing of civilians by Israeli air raids on Gaza presents a moral dilemma, but argues there is scant alternative as long as the Islamic militants who rule the coastal strip refuse to stop firing rockets at much of Israel. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty)

JERUSALEM — Former Israeli President Shimon Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and elder statesman of Israeli politics, has died, the Israeli news website YNet is reporting. He was 93.

Peres' condition worsened after a major stroke two weeks ago.

He was one of the country's most admired leaders at home and abroad and the last surviving link to Israel's founding fathers.

He filled nearly every position in Israeli public life in an unprecedented seven-decade political career.

He was credited with leading the country through some of its most defining moments, from creating its nuclear arsenal in the 1950s to guiding a skeptical nation into peace talks with the Palestinians in the 1990s. He earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his key role in those peace negotiations.

Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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