Israeli government holds minute of silence in memory of Peres

Record ID: 85126

  • Title: Israeli government holds minute of silence in memory of Peres
  • Date: 28th September 2016
  • Summary: BLACK FRAMED PHOTO OF PERES
  • Embargoed: 13th October 2016 09:54
  • Keywords: Israel Mourning Cabinet Shimon Peres Death
  • Location: JERUSALEM
  • City: JERUSALEM
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA00251HAM9Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a special cabinet meeting to mourn the death of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, who died in hospital on Wednesday (September 28) at 93.
    Netanyahu and his ministers held a minute of silence in memory of the elder statesman and joint winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.
    Despite many decades of rivalry with Peres, Netanyahu, a right-winger who defeated then-Labour Party leader Peres in a 1996 election, praised him as a stalwart of the centre-left and a visionary.
    "There were many things we agreed upon, and the number grew as the years passed. But we had disagreements, a natural part of democratic life. Even in those cases, the respect I had for Shimon was not impacted in any way. On the contrary, as time passed, we drew closer. I appreciated him, I loved him," Netanyahu said.
    "Shimon won international recognition that spanned the globe. World leaders wanted to be in his proximity and respected him. Along with us, many of them will accompany him on his last journey to eternal rest in the soil of Jerusalem," he added.
    His funeral would take place on Friday (September 30) at the Mount Herzl cemetery in a section dedicated to "Great Leaders of the Nation".
    U.S President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and Britain's Prince Charles are among those expected to attend, Israeli radio reported, although Israel's Foreign Ministry could not immediately confirm the attendance list.
    Peres was part of almost every major development in Israel since the country's founding in 1948. In a career spanning nearly 70 years, he served in a dozen cabinets and was twice a Labour prime minister.
    He shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with the late former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for reaching an interim peace deal in 1993 which never turned into a lasting treaty.
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