Israelis Flock to Knesset for Shimon Peres Tribute
JERUSALEM — Israeli citizens flocked to the Knesset to pay their respects to the country’s ninth president Shimon Peres.
Peres body is lying in state at the Knesset all day Thursday, ahead of his funeral scheduled for Friday. Thousands of Israelis are expected to view the casket at the Knesset.
Prior to opening the viewing to the public, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein and opposition leader Isaac Herzog lay wreaths beside the coffin in a private ceremony.
Peres died early Wednesday at the age of 93, two weeks after suffering a massive stroke.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived on Thursday morning and asked to be taken directly to the Knesset to pay his respects. He arrived without his wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Despite reports Wednesday which originated with the Foreign Ministry that the candidate also would come to Israel for Peres’ funeral, the Clinton campaign told news outlets late Wednesday that she would not attend. Republican nominee Donald Trump also is not planning to attend the funeral.
Some 80 world leaders were expected to arrive in Israel between Thursday and the funeral on Friday morning.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO