President Barack Obama hailed Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres, who died Wednesday, as a friend who refused to give up on the dream of peace.

"There are few people who we share this world with who change the course of human history, not just through their role in human events, but because they expand our moral imagination and force us to expect more of ourselves. My friend Shimon was one of those people," Obama said in a White House statement.

The US president said Peres' commitment to Israel's security and pursuit of peace was "rooted in his own unshakeable moral foundation and unflagging optimism."

"Perhaps because he had seen Israel surmount overwhelming odds, Shimon never gave up on the possibility of peace between Israelis, Palestinians and Israel's neighbors -- not even after the heartbreak of the night in Tel Aviv that took Yitzhak Rabin," Obama said.