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Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman says he is more optimistic about Peres' condition
Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres suffered stroke on Tuesday
(CNN) —
Former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres’ condition has improved somewhat a day after his stroke, and he was able to shake his son-in-law’s hand as physicians reduced his level of sedation, doctors said Wednesday.
Peres, 93, is in severe but stable condition, and is intubated and sedated, following Tuesday’s stroke, said Dr. Yitshak Kreiss, manager of Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, where Peres is being treated.
“He is slightly more alert, and it is our impression that his neurological condition is a little bit better,” Kreiss said Wednesday afternoon at the hospital.
Kreiss wasn’t alone in sounding a cautiously optimistic view of Peres’ condition. Peres’ son-in-law and personal physician, Dr. Rafi Walden, said the veteran politician and Nobel laureate “responded very well” as his sedation dosage has been reduced.
“He understood what he was told. He shook my hand energetically,” Walden said. “There has been a significant improvement in his consciousness.”
Photos: Peace warrior: The life of Israel's Shimon Peres
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Former Israel Prime Minister and Nobel laureate Shimon Peres' career in politics spanned several generations. He's seen here during a meeting with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout on May 5, 2010.
Photos: Peace warrior: The life of Israel's Shimon Peres
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Shimon Peres was born on August 2, 1923 in Wisniew, Poland, where he lived before his family migrated to British-mandate Palestine in 1932. He is pictured here, center, with his mother, Sarah, and younger brother Gershon.
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Peres is seen here with his wife Sonia Peres and daughter, Ziviah, in 1946. The couple also had two other children, sons Chemi Peres and Yoni Peres.
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Peres is seen here at left with Moshe Dayan, center, an Israeli military leader and politician, at the Taj Mahal in India, circa 1950. Peres entered politics in 1959 as a member of the left-wing Mapai party, a precursor to the modern Labor party. His political career lasted more than half a century, and he held virtually every position in Israel's Cabinet.
Photos: Peace warrior: The life of Israel's Shimon Peres
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Peres retired from public office in 2014 after a seven-year term as President. By then, he had been in Israeli politics for more than half a century, holding virtually every position in the Cabinet and emerging as a staunch advocate for peace in the Middle East. Here, Peres sits in his office in Tel Aviv, Israel, in November 1969.
Photos: Peace warrior: The life of Israel's Shimon Peres
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Peres, left, with then-Israel Defense Minister Ariel Sharon on January 2, 1974 in Ras Sudar in Egypt's Sinai Desert. The two were visiting one of the sites of the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab states.
Photos: Peace warrior: The life of Israel's Shimon Peres
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Peres, then Israel's Minister of Defense, pointing over Israel's northern border towards Lebanon during a tour of Lebanese border defenses on January 22, 1976.
Photos: Peace warrior: The life of Israel's Shimon Peres
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Defense Minister and acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres speaks with Israeli Arabs before Israelis go to the polls in Umm al-Fahm, Israel, on May 17, 1977 in the country's national elections.
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Shimon Peres speaking in the Druze village of Daliyat al-Karmel in Israel on May 10, 1977.
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Israeli Labor Party leader Shimon Peres in Paris in 1981. He chaired the left-leaning party until 1992.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, right, consults with Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin on November 26, 1986, during a vote in the Israeli parliament, Knesset, about shipments of arms to Iran.