Israel’s Peres in serious but stable condition after stroke

JERUSALEM — Doctors treating Shimon Peres say the former Israeli president has survived the night but remains in serious condition after suffering a major stroke.

Dr. Yitzhak Kreiss, director of the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, says Peres was in a medically induced coma Wednesday.

He said the bleeding in the brain had been halted and that Peres’ condition is “serious but stable.”

Peres, 93, was rushed to hospital after feeling ill and quickly diagnosed to have suffered a stroke.

Peres is the elder statesman of Israeli politics, one of the country’s most admired symbols and the last surviving link to its founding fathers.

Over a seven-decade career, he has held virtually every senior political office, including three stints as prime minister and extended terms as foreign, defense and finance minister.