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Shimon Peres funeral: leaders gather for burial of former Israeli PM Shimon Peres funeral: leaders gather for burial of former Israeli PM
(about 2 hours later)
The funeral of former Israeli president, prime minister and Nobel laureate Shimon Peres has begun in Jerusalem amid an “unprecedented” security operation, with more than 70 world leaders and dignitaries in attendance. The US president, Barack Obama, evoked the “unfinished business” of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as he delivered a pointed and moving tribute at the funeral of the former Israeli president and Nobel peace prize laureate Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Friday.
Among those at the ceremony at Mount Herzl cemetery were Barack Obama, former US president Bill Clinton, Prince Charles and the British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and the French leader, François Hollande, along with other heads of state and 15 foreign ministers. Speaking in front of almost 80 world leaders gathered at the city’s Mount Herzl cemetery, including Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Obama insisted that Peres had understood that “the Jewish people weren’t born to rule another people.”
Most striking, however, was the presence of Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who had not visited Jerusalem since 2010, and attended the funeral with a high-powered Palestinian delegation despite vocal criticism in Palestinian society of his decision. Obama delivered his address shortly before Peres - who was regarded as the last of Israel’s founding generation - was buried between two other Israeli prime ministers, Yitzhak Rabin and Yitzhak Shamir.
As he arrived, Abbas was greeted by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he shook hands. Friday’s funeral was Israel’s largest gathering of international dignitaries since the funeral of Rabin, Peres’ partner in peace, who was killed by a Jewish nationalist in 1995.
The two men briefly exchanged greetings. “Long time, long time,” Abbas told Netanyahu, before Netanyahu thanked Abbas for coming: “It’s something that I appreciate very much on behalf of our people and on behalf of us.” Obama’s intervention during his whistle stop visit to Israel for the commemoration was the most political at a sombre occasion where the ghost of the failed Middle East peace process loomed large, referred to as well by former US president Bill Clinton and the Israeli novelist Amos Oz.
An indication of the anger in some Palestinian quarters over Abbas’s attendance was reflected in a cartoon circulated on social media, showing Abbas in Israeli military uniform with his name altered to sound Israeli, weeping over Peres’s grave. And in an an event heavy with reminders of the collapsed peace process, perhaps the most striking was the presence of Abbas who told Netanyahu as the two men shook hands: “Long time, long time.”
Others attending the funeral included former British prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron and the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson. Referring to Abbas’s presence as he began his eulogy, Obama said the presence of the Palestinian leader was “a gesture and reminder of the unfinished business of peace” adding that Peres: “never saw his dream of peace fulfilled...And yet he did not stop dreaming, and he did not stop working.”
In his eulogy, Clinton described of Peres as an “optimistic dreamer” with a “luminous smile” who encompassed an “endless capacity to look beyond even the most crushing setbacks in order to seize the possibilities.” “Even in the face of terrorist attacks, repeated disappointments at the negotiating table, he insisted that Palestinians must be seen as equal in dignity to Jews and therefore equal in self-determination.”
He added: “He imagined all the things the rest of us could do. He started life as Israel’s brightest student, became its best teacher and ended up its biggest dreamer.” “He believed that Israel would be best protected when Palestinians had a state of their own.”
Netanyahu called Peres: “A great man of Israel. He was a great man of the world. Israel grieves for him. The world grieves for him.” He concluded “The last of the founding generation is now gone,” adding: “Toda rabah haver yakar,” Hebrew for “thank you so much dear friend.”
His friend, the Israeli novelist Amos Oz, described his “capacity to change ... a trailblazer who had been ridiculed, who seemed a big dreamer until the future came a proved him right.” Other dignitaries who attended at the funeral for Peres, who died aged 93 on Wednesday, were Prince Charles and the British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, as well as the French leader, François Hollande, along with other heads of state and 15 foreign ministers.
“When some say peace is not possible it is possible and it is necessary and inevitable because we are not going anywhere,” he said, adding: “That is why we have no option but to divide this house into two apartments. Where are the leaders the brave leaders who will make this dream come true and continue his vision.” Abbas’s attendance, leading a Palestinian delegation, sparked anger in some Palestinian quarters reflected in a cartoon circulated on social media, showing Abbas in Israeli military uniform with his name altered to sound Israeli, weeping over Peres’s grave.
The funeral, which saw foreign figures fly from across the globe, saw an unprecedented security operation to protect the commemoration which saw roads closed, including the main Tel Aviv to Jerusalem highway, and thousands of police deployed.
The morning began with Peres’s coffin carried out of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, at just after 8.30am by eight military pall bearers, followed by his family, with the procession led by another member of Israel’s armed forces reciting the kaddish – the Jewish prayer for the dead.The morning began with Peres’s coffin carried out of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, at just after 8.30am by eight military pall bearers, followed by his family, with the procession led by another member of Israel’s armed forces reciting the kaddish – the Jewish prayer for the dead.
The coffin was loaded into a hearse to travel to Mount Herzl cemetery shortly after Obama’s jet set down at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Obama was accompanied on Airforce One by the vice-president, Joe Biden, the secretary of state, John Kerry, and 18 members of Congress. The coffin was loaded into a hearse to travel to Mount Herzl cemetery shortly after Obama’s jet set down at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Obama was accompanied on Airforce One by the vice-president, Joe Biden, the secretary of state, John Kerry, and
As part of the operation, 8,000 police officers have been deployed while the main road between Ben Gurion and Jerusalem will be closed for large parts of the day as well as other roads in the city itself with police officers placed every 30 metres along the route. Others attending the funeral included former British prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron and the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson.
Israeli police chief Roni Alsheich said that as part of the “unprecedented” operation to secure the funeral, several Jewish and Arab suspects had been preemptively arrested over fears that they might try to disrupt proceedings. Clinton, who was president when Peres negotiated a historic interim peace accord with the Palestinians in 1993 praised Peres as a “wide champion of our common humanity.”
The coffin of Peres, who died on Wednesday at the age of 93 after suffering a stroke two weeks before, was driven in a cortege from the Knesset – where he has been lying in state ahead of the funeral – to the cemetery. Describing their 25-year friendship Clinton dismissed critics who described Peres as a naive dreamer. “He started life as Israel’s brightest student, became its best teacher and ended up its biggest dreamer,” said Clinton.
An estimated 30,000 people had filed past his coffin as he lay in state outside parliament in Jerusalem on Thursday. Clinton has now attended the funerals of all three of the figures who signed the Oslo peace accords and shared the Nobel peace prize - Rabin, former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and now Peres.
Peres will be buried next to Yitzak Rabin, the former Israeli prime minister who was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist opposed to the Oslo peace accords and with whom Peres was jointly awarded the Nobel peace prize along with then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. In his own appreciation of Peres, his former fierce political rival Netanyahu called Peres: “A great man of Israel. He was a great man of the world. Israel grieves for him. The world grieves for him.”
Oz, who had known Peres for 40 years, described Peres’s “capacity to change” and called him “a trailblazer who had been ridiculed, who seemed a big dreamer until the future came and proved him right.”
“When some say peace is not possible it is possible,” he added, “and it is necessary and inevitable because we are not going anywhere.”
He continued: “That is why we have no option but to divide this house into two apartments. Where are the leaders the brave leaders who will make this dream come true and continue his vision?”
Peres’s death led to an outpouring of tributes worldwide for Israel’s last remaining founding father.Peres’s death led to an outpouring of tributes worldwide for Israel’s last remaining founding father.
In a career spanning seven decades, Peres held nearly every major office, serving twice as prime minister and as president, a mainly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014. He was also an architect of Israel’s undeclared nuclear programme and defence industries.In a career spanning seven decades, Peres held nearly every major office, serving twice as prime minister and as president, a mainly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014. He was also an architect of Israel’s undeclared nuclear programme and defence industries.
While those in the west and within Israel have hailed Peres as a peacemaker, many Palestinians and those from Arab nations have questioned his record, citing his involvement in successive Arab-Israeli wars, the occupation of Palestinian territory and his support for settlement building before his work on Oslo.While those in the west and within Israel have hailed Peres as a peacemaker, many Palestinians and those from Arab nations have questioned his record, citing his involvement in successive Arab-Israeli wars, the occupation of Palestinian territory and his support for settlement building before his work on Oslo.
He was also prime minister in 1996 when more than 100 civilians were killed while sheltering at a UN peacekeepers’ base in the Lebanese village of Qana when it was fired upon by Israel.He was also prime minister in 1996 when more than 100 civilians were killed while sheltering at a UN peacekeepers’ base in the Lebanese village of Qana when it was fired upon by Israel.
Despite his reputation as a statesman, Peres never managed to outright win a national election. Many in Israel opposed to the Oslo accords also blamed him for what they saw as their failure.Despite his reputation as a statesman, Peres never managed to outright win a national election. Many in Israel opposed to the Oslo accords also blamed him for what they saw as their failure.
But in later life, especially during his time as president, he came to be widely embraced.But in later life, especially during his time as president, he came to be widely embraced.