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| Shimon Peres death: Barack Obama and Prince Charles to attend funeral | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| International figures led by Barack Obama, François Hollande, Bill Clinton and Prince Charles will gather in Jerusalem on Friday for the funeral of Shimon Peres, one of Israel’s defining political figures and a Nobel peace prize laureate, who died on Wednesday aged 93. | |
| John Kerry, Tony Blair and the European council president, Donald Tusk, have also been invited. | John Kerry, Tony Blair and the European council president, Donald Tusk, have also been invited. |
| Israeli officials briefed that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would be attending, but the presidential contender’s campaign team appeared to deny that she would fly to Israel. The White House later confirmed Obama’s attendance. A spokesman said: “The president will participate in the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres. [He] will depart on Sept 29 and will return to Washington DC following the ceremony on Sept.30.” | |
| The Vatican said the pope would not be going. | The Vatican said the pope would not be going. |
| Peres, a complex and sometimes divisive figure in Israel, will be buried on Friday at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl national cemetery after lying in state at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Thursday. | Peres, a complex and sometimes divisive figure in Israel, will be buried on Friday at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl national cemetery after lying in state at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Thursday. |
| Peres, who served as prime minister of Israel twice and later as the country’s ninth president, died in the early hours of Wednesday at a hospital near Tel Aviv, two weeks after suffering a stroke. | Peres, who served as prime minister of Israel twice and later as the country’s ninth president, died in the early hours of Wednesday at a hospital near Tel Aviv, two weeks after suffering a stroke. |
| In more than six decades of political life, his defining achievement was as one of the key architects of the Oslo peace accords, for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1994 with the then Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, and Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. | In more than six decades of political life, his defining achievement was as one of the key architects of the Oslo peace accords, for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1994 with the then Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, and Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. |
| The peace agreements – signed in Washington in 1993 and Taba, Egypt, in 1995 – foresaw the creation of a Palestinian state, and were named after the Norwegian capital where the two sides had begun eight months of secret negotiations. | The peace agreements – signed in Washington in 1993 and Taba, Egypt, in 1995 – foresaw the creation of a Palestinian state, and were named after the Norwegian capital where the two sides had begun eight months of secret negotiations. |
| With Peres’s death the last of that trio has now gone. Rabin was cut down by a rightwing assassin’s bullet in 1995 while Arafat died nine years later. Meanwhile, the prospect of a two-state solution offered by Oslo today appears further away than ever. | With Peres’s death the last of that trio has now gone. Rabin was cut down by a rightwing assassin’s bullet in 1995 while Arafat died nine years later. Meanwhile, the prospect of a two-state solution offered by Oslo today appears further away than ever. |
| Within hours of his death, tributes to Peres began to flow in from world leaders, including the Queen, and senior Israeli politicians. Among the latter was the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu – a fierce political rival of Peres for many years – who spoke of his “profound sadness”. | Within hours of his death, tributes to Peres began to flow in from world leaders, including the Queen, and senior Israeli politicians. Among the latter was the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu – a fierce political rival of Peres for many years – who spoke of his “profound sadness”. |
| In a statement from the White House, Obama described Peres as “the essence of Israel itself”. | In a statement from the White House, Obama described Peres as “the essence of Israel itself”. |
| “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,” Obama said. | “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,” Obama said. |
| The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said Peres had “worked tirelessly for a two-state solution that would enable Israel to live securely and harmoniously with the Palestinians and the wider region”. | The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said Peres had “worked tirelessly for a two-state solution that would enable Israel to live securely and harmoniously with the Palestinians and the wider region”. |
| Bill Clinton, who helped usher in the Oslo peace accords when he was US president, said: “The Middle East has lost a fervent advocate for peace and reconciliation.” | Bill Clinton, who helped usher in the Oslo peace accords when he was US president, said: “The Middle East has lost a fervent advocate for peace and reconciliation.” |
| The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, had sent a condolence letter to Peres’s family praising him for pursuing the “peace of the brave”. | The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, had sent a condolence letter to Peres’s family praising him for pursuing the “peace of the brave”. |
| Friends and confidantes of Peres offered a mixed view of his legacy on Wednesday, not least regarding the Israel-Palestine peace process with which he was so closely associated. | Friends and confidantes of Peres offered a mixed view of his legacy on Wednesday, not least regarding the Israel-Palestine peace process with which he was so closely associated. |
| Describing a tireless friend, his neighbour and biographer Michael Bar Zohar suggested that despite being one of its strongest proponents, Peres also recognised the failure of Oslo. | Describing a tireless friend, his neighbour and biographer Michael Bar Zohar suggested that despite being one of its strongest proponents, Peres also recognised the failure of Oslo. |
| “The Oslo agreement was not a very big success, not its conception, not its writing, not its partner,” said Bar Zohar. “It was one of things he regretted most, but he still stuck to the conviction that Oslo was a great thing and that the ‘new Middle East’ was a new reality despite what was happening around us. | “The Oslo agreement was not a very big success, not its conception, not its writing, not its partner,” said Bar Zohar. “It was one of things he regretted most, but he still stuck to the conviction that Oslo was a great thing and that the ‘new Middle East’ was a new reality despite what was happening around us. |
| “He still felt the two-state solution could be implemented, although he was critical of the Israeli government about the stalemate in those negotiations and partly the Palestinians as well.” | “He still felt the two-state solution could be implemented, although he was critical of the Israeli government about the stalemate in those negotiations and partly the Palestinians as well.” |
| The leader of Israel’s opposition, Isaac Herzog, who had known Peres since childhood first through his father, Chaim Herzog, himself a president of Israel, described a man who lived his life largely in public. | The leader of Israel’s opposition, Isaac Herzog, who had known Peres since childhood first through his father, Chaim Herzog, himself a president of Israel, described a man who lived his life largely in public. |
| “I think Peres’s vision of a two-state solution is alive and kicking,” said Herzog. “It has problems. Stumbling blocks. But it is still possible … I think the tragedy is both people [Palestinians and Israelis] in majorities want to move to a two-state solution. It is not moving because of politics. But his dream will be implemented.” | “I think Peres’s vision of a two-state solution is alive and kicking,” said Herzog. “It has problems. Stumbling blocks. But it is still possible … I think the tragedy is both people [Palestinians and Israelis] in majorities want to move to a two-state solution. It is not moving because of politics. But his dream will be implemented.” |
| Despite his role in the Oslo accords, Palestinians and the wider Arab world saw the legacy of Peres differently. Many have portrayed him as a key figure in early settlement construction and pointed to his role in the 1996 Israeli assault on Qana in Lebanon, when 106 civilians died in the shelling of a UN base where they were sheltering. | Despite his role in the Oslo accords, Palestinians and the wider Arab world saw the legacy of Peres differently. Many have portrayed him as a key figure in early settlement construction and pointed to his role in the 1996 Israeli assault on Qana in Lebanon, when 106 civilians died in the shelling of a UN base where they were sheltering. |
| But for many Israelis – even those on the right who opposed his support of the peace process as “naive” – Peres will be remembered for a career that intimately tracked the country’s short history. | But for many Israelis – even those on the right who opposed his support of the peace process as “naive” – Peres will be remembered for a career that intimately tracked the country’s short history. |
| Often a deeply divisive figure in Israeli politics – he was hated on the right for his advocacy of Oslo – Peres later became one of Israel’s most popular public figures during his seven-year term as president from 2007-14. | Often a deeply divisive figure in Israeli politics – he was hated on the right for his advocacy of Oslo – Peres later became one of Israel’s most popular public figures during his seven-year term as president from 2007-14. |
| As recently as last year, Peres strongly criticised the direction of the rightwing government of Netanyahu, although he did not name the prime minister directly. | As recently as last year, Peres strongly criticised the direction of the rightwing government of Netanyahu, although he did not name the prime minister directly. |
| “Israel should implement the two-state solution for her own sake, because if we should lose our majority, and today we are almost equal, we cannot remain a Jewish state or a democratic state. That’s the main issue, and to my regret they [the government] do the opposite.” | “Israel should implement the two-state solution for her own sake, because if we should lose our majority, and today we are almost equal, we cannot remain a Jewish state or a democratic state. That’s the main issue, and to my regret they [the government] do the opposite.” |
| Born in Wiszniewo, Poland, Peres emigrated to British Mandate Palestine in 1934 at the age of 11, and was a founder of the Labour-Zionist Youth Movement and a member of the Hagana Jewish military forces before Israel declared independence. | Born in Wiszniewo, Poland, Peres emigrated to British Mandate Palestine in 1934 at the age of 11, and was a founder of the Labour-Zionist Youth Movement and a member of the Hagana Jewish military forces before Israel declared independence. |
| As a defence official in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Peres was involved in the establishment in Dimona of Israel’s nuclear reactor, the facility at the centre of Israel’s nuclear weapons programme. | As a defence official in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Peres was involved in the establishment in Dimona of Israel’s nuclear reactor, the facility at the centre of Israel’s nuclear weapons programme. |
| During a decades-long career, he occupied almost every significant position in Israeli political life. His first role was as director general of Israel’s ministry of defence in his 20s, as a protege of David Ben-Gurion, involved in the secret planning of the Suez offensive with Britain and France in alliance against Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt. | During a decades-long career, he occupied almost every significant position in Israeli political life. His first role was as director general of Israel’s ministry of defence in his 20s, as a protege of David Ben-Gurion, involved in the secret planning of the Suez offensive with Britain and France in alliance against Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt. |
| First elected to the Israeli parliament in 1959, his cabinet roles included the defence, finance and foreign affairs portfolios before he served two brief periods as prime minister. Although he ran for prime minister five times between 1977 and 1996, he never won a national election outright. | First elected to the Israeli parliament in 1959, his cabinet roles included the defence, finance and foreign affairs portfolios before he served two brief periods as prime minister. Although he ran for prime minister five times between 1977 and 1996, he never won a national election outright. |