The late Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres was a "man for all seasons" who represented "the last of the founding generation of Israel," renowned civil-rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax TV.
The Israeli elder statesman, who shared a Nobel Prize for hammering out a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, died Tuesday at the age of 93 after suffering a massive stroke earlier this month.
"He was a very close friend of mine. I met him first in 1970 when he was arming Israel and helping it to defend itself against the countries surrounding it which wanted to destroy it," Dershowitz, a Harvard Law professor emeritus, said Wednesday to J.D. Hayworth on "America Talks Live."
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"I most recently spent time with him when he was given the Medal of Freedom by President Obama at a White House ceremony. I'm wearing a black tie to show my personal great grief over his death."
"Every time I went to Israel I paid my respects to him when he was the president. He was a wonderful man. A man for all seasons. He knew when to make war and he knew when to try to achieve peace."
Dershowitz called Peres "the last of the founding generation of Israel."
"[He was] not only one of the greatest Israelis and Jews of the 20th and first part of the 21st century but one of the greatest people in the world during that period of time," Dershowitz told Hayworth.
"He will long be remembered, but like Moses he was not given an opportunity to get to the promise land. He wanted peace.
"He wanted to be the person who brought about the two-state solution and he did not live long enough to see it but I hope in his memory we will achieve a two-state solution and with Israel's security protect it."
Peres was one of the last of a generation of Israeli politicians present at Israel's birth in 1948 and enjoyed a political career stretching more than 60 years.
Dershowitz is author of "Electile Dysfunction: A Guide for Unaroused Voters," published by Rosettabooks.