World leaders gather in Israel for funeral of Shimon Peres
About 70 countries were represented at the procession held for the former president of Israel.
People from all around the world paid their tributes to Peres, who died at age 93. Family members of former Israeli President Shimon Peres are seen here walking past his coffin during a ceremony at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, Sep.30, 2016.
Many of the world's leaders came together under tight security in Israel on Friday to attend the funeral of Israel's former prime minister and president Shimon Peres.
Among the big names that attended were US President Barack Obama, Britain's Prince Charles and French President Francois Hollande.
Roads were closed and around 8,000 police were deployed for the procession beginning at 9:00am (0600 GMT) at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery.
About 70 countries were represented at the ceremony.
About 8,000 police officers were deployed for the funeral procession of Shimon Peres. Family members are seen here walking past his coffin during a ceremony at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, Sep.30, 2016.
Following his death on Wednesday at the age of 93, people from all around the world paid their tributes to Israel's former leader.
An estimated 50,000 people were in attendance at the funeral, with Peres's coffin laying in state outside parliament in Jerusalem during the day on Thursday.
Former US president Bill Clinton was also among those who paid their last respects to the former leader.
Obama flew in on Friday morning and plans to leave after the ceremony.
Among those who spoke were Obama, Clinton, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and speaker of parliament Yuli Edelstein.
Renowned writer Amos Oz and Peres's two sons and daughter also spoke at the procession.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who signed the Oslo accords and negotiated with Peres, also attended the funeral, in what was a rare visit to Jerusalem for the leader.
The last substantial public meeting between Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in 2010. Here they are seen shaking hands at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, during the funeral of Shimon Peres, Sep.30, 2016.
Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shook hands and spoke briefly at the funeral in what was a rare public encounter between the two men.
Netanyahu and his wife thanked the Palestinian leader for coming.
The last time Abbas and Netanyahu publically met was in 2010, though there have been unconfirmed reports that the two had secret meetings afterwards.
The last time an event of this kind was held in Israel was the 1995 funeral for Yitzhak Rabin, who was Peres's rival in the Labour party but partner in negotiating the Oslo accords.
Peres was buried next to former politician Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist who opposed the accords.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.