VIDEO: Bono dedicates U2 song at gig to Shimon Peres: “The voice of reason”

Irish band U2 had a surprise for their Toronto audience, dedicating one of their most well known songs to Israeli statesman, Shimon Peres.

Playing in Canada on Tuesday, U2 frontman, Bono told fans before the last song of the evening:  “somebody here who’s got one of the hardest jobs on earth…. somebody who has acted as the voice of reason in a region where the loudest voices are often the bellicose ones. Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres is here in the house tonight.”

Bono #u2 with Shimon Peres, the former President of Israel , Toronto 7.7.15 #Bono dedicated him “one” pic.twitter.com/eRk88Q8bMa

— daffi (@u2_israel) July 8, 2015

Peres, a nobel prize winner and former Israeli prime minister and president was lauded by the singer on stage. Bono said: “We understand, president Peres, that you have tried to be the voice of reason. And you’ve dedicated a lot of your life, all of your life, to try and bring peace in this really dangerous region,”

“And we wish you and your family safe. We wish that you, who worked so hard for that incredible Oslo Accord, that you don’t give up on the two-state solution. At age 92, we know we can count on you.”

He finished by saying: “We’re going to sing this song with two ancient peoples in mind. This is called ‘One’. Mr. President, we’re all going to sing it to you.”