Israeli writer and peace activist Abraham "Buli" Yehoshua dies at age of 85

Abraham "Buli" (A. B.) Yehoshua, an Israeli writer who explored Jewish national identity while advocating for accommodation with the Palestinians, died on Tuesday aged 85, his family said.

Known professionally by his first two initials, the Jerusalem-born Yehoshua won international acclaim for often sensuous novels such as "The Lover" and "The Extra".

A former paratrooper, he would become a prominent figure in the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem and the liberal party Meretz. His promotion of a secular Zionism occasionally raised hackles among foreign or ultra-religious Jews.

Yehoshua's work "provided us with an accurate, sharp, loving and sometimes also painful mirror image of ourselves," President Isaac Herzog said in a tribute. "He stirred within us a mosaic of profound feelings."