After heart attack, Shimon Peres ‘moved by your love’

Shimon Peres FILE PHOTO
Shimon Peres FILE PHOTO

JERUSALEM — Former Israeli President Shimon Peres was discharged from the hospital after suffering a mild heart attack.

“I feel rejuvenated and I am ready to return to serving our wonderful country that I love so much,” Peres, 92, said Tuesday as he left the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. “I want to thank you all, across the country, from the bottom of my heart for the concern and encouragement – I am moved by your love.”

Peres was taken to the hospital Thursday morning after feeling chest pains. He underwent a cardiac angioplasty at Sheba’s Heart Institute to open a blocked artery.

He called the last five days “an interesting experience,” and said he was happy to be able to leave the hospital and finish recovering at home.

Before his heart attack, Peres had been planning to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which begins Wednesday, where he had scheduled some 15 meetings with world leaders and international figures.

At the end of December, social media was flooded with rumours that Peres had died, leading him to take to Facebook to declare that rumours of his demise were greatly exaggerated.

Peres retired as president of Israel in 2014 after more than half a century in public life.