Politicians From All Over the World Gather For Funeral of Shimon Peres

On Friday, September 30th, world leaders gathered in Jerusalem to pay their respects as the body of Former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres was laid to rest.

Mr. Peres served as prime minister, president and foreign minister during an extremely eventful and lengthy political career that spanned seven decades. Early Wednesday morning, at the age of 93, he died from the lingering complications of a stroke.

“Israel grieves for him. The world grieves for him…that so many leaders came from around the world to bid farewell to Shimon is a testament to his optimism, his quest for peace,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the distinguished assembly of mourners at the hilltop of Mount Herzl, Israel’s national cemetery.

The funeral drew delegations from 75 countries, including former President Bill Clinton, President François Hollande of France, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, Prince Charles and former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron of Britain, and King Felipe VI of Spain.

The funeral also managed to bring together Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, and the two men shook hands and exchanged brief pleasantries, for the first time in years.

In his eulogy, Mr. Obama acknowledged the presence of the Palestinian leader at the funeral, deeming it a reminder of “the unfinished business of peace.”

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton eulogized Peres as well, saying that Mr. Peres started life as Israel’s “brightest student” and became its best teacher, before finishing as its biggest dreamer.

The death of Shimon Peres brings the era of the old- generation Israeli giants to a close.

“Now his work is in the hands of Israel’s next generation,” Obama said, standing at a podium just feet from Mr. Peres’s flag-draped coffin, which was later interred between the graves of Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin, two other former Israeli premiers.

Featured Image via Wikimedia