World leaders gather to farewell Peres
Major security operation for funeral of Israel’s former Prime Minister
Shimon Peres was laid to rest yesterday in a ceremony attended by thousands of admirers and dozens of international dignitaries — in a final tribute to a man who personified the history of Israel during a remarkable sevendecade political career and who came to be seen by many as a potent symbol of hopes of Mideast peace.
United States President Barack Obama, former US President Bill Clinton and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas headlined a long list of world leaders who converged on Israel’s national cemetery, Mount Herzl, for the event. In a nod to the Palestinian leader, Abbas sat in the front row at the memorial service.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the gathering of world leaders was a testament to Peres’ optimism, quest for peace and love for Israel.
“He was a great man of Israel. He was a great man of the world. Israel grieves for him. The world grieves for him,” Netanyahu said.
Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who held every major office in Israel, including President and Prime Minister, died on Wednesday, two weeks after suffering a stroke. He was 93. Yesterday’s funeral was Israel’s largest gathering of international dignitaries since the funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Peres’ partner in peace, who was killed by a Jewish nationalist in 1995.
The funeral created numerous logistical and security challenges, and roads, including the main highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, were closed.
Peres and Netanyahu were fierce political rivals and had vastly different world visions. But Netanyahu said they enjoyed a strong personal relationship and described Peres as a man of vision.
“I loved you. We all loved you. Farewell Shimon. Dear man. Great leader,” he said.
Peres’ casket lay in state on Thursday outside the Parliament building, where thousands of people, including Clinton, came to pay their respects. Early yesterday, an honour guard escorted the casket, along with Peres’ family, along the short route to the cemetery.
Both Obama and Clinton addressed the funeral.
Obama and Peres enjoyed a friendly relationship, and in 2012, Obama awarded Peres the presidential Medal of Freedom. Clinton was President when Peres negotiated a historic interim peace accord with the Palestinians in 1993.
The United States delegation also included Secretary of State John Kerry and about 20 members of Congress and several administration officials.
French President Francois Hollande, Britain’s Prince Charles, German President Joachim Gauck and scores of other world leaders also attended.
While Peres is viewed in the West as a visionary advocate for peace, his legacy in the Arab world is mixed and reaction has been subdued.
Animosity toward Israel remains strong in the Arab world, especially at a time of deadlock in peace efforts, and Peres is still associated with wars and settlement construction that took place during his lengthy career.
Abbas, however, was one of the lone Arab voices to express his sadness over Peres’ death, and his aides say he wanted to recognise Peres for his years of efforts to promote peace. Abbas and Netanyahu, who have barely spoken to one another during the past seven years, briefly chatted at the ceremony. Abbas greeted the families of Peres and Rabin, shaking hands and hugging dovish Israeli leaders before he was seated in the front row.
In an unprecedented sevendecade political career, Peres filled nearly every position in Israeli public life and was credited with leading the country through some of its most defining moments: creating what i s believed to be a nuclear arsenal in the 1950s; disentangling its troops from Lebanon and rescuing its economy from triple- digit inflation in the 1980s; and guiding a sceptical nation into peace talks with the Palestinians in the 1990s.
A protege of David Ben- Gurion, Israel’s founding father and first Prime Minister, Peres served in Parliament for nearly half a century, held every major Cabinet post, including defence, finance and foreign affairs, and served three brief stints as Prime Minister.
He was the country’s elder statesman as its ceremonial President between 2007 and 2014.
Peres created his non- governmental Peres Centre for Peace, which raised funds and ran programmes for cooperation and development projects involving Israel, the Palestinians and Arab nations.
He was a huge proponent of Israeli technology and innovation, and gained international recognition as a globe- trotting celebrity preaching peace and coexistence. Beijing News Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte raised his bloody anti- crime war rhetoric to a new level yesterday, comparing it to how Hitler massacred millions of Jews and saying how he would be “happy to slaughter” 3 million addicts. Duterte issued his latest threat against drug dealers and users on returning to his home in southern Davao city after visiting Vietnam, where he discussed his antidrug campaign with Vietnamese leaders and compared notes on battling the problem. “Hitler massacred 3 million Jews . . . there’s 3 million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” Duterte said, referring to a Philippine Government estimate of the number of drug addicts in the country. Historians say that 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis under Hitler before and during World War II. Duterte has said that his public death threats against drug suspects are designed to scare them into stopping selling illegal drugs and to discourage would- be users. Such scare tactics, he has said, are legal. But his remarks yesterday took that crime- busting approach to a different level.
Benjamin Netanyahu
Authorities say a newborn baby has been found alive in a trash bin inside a gas station restroom in Pennsylvania. Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck says the baby was found at a BP station in North Belle Vernon. Authorities believe a woman gave birth in the station’s restroom. The baby was found when paramedics called to assist the woman looked in the trash bin. The baby was nearly full term and is expected to survive. The child is being monitored at a hospital. Peck says authorities are investigating. No charges have been filed. A pair of formerly high- flying Chinese provincial officials were sentenced to prison yesterday for corruption and bribe- taking, the latest targets to fall in President Xi Jinping’s years- long campaign against graft at all levels of government and state industry. The charges against Wan Qingliang and Wang Min reflect the widespread practice of exchanging cash and gifts for jobs and appointments that themselves may offer lucrative opportunities for self- enrichment through corruption. Xi has vowed to end corruption and government waste. Some Chinese complain that the drive has resulted in bureaucratic paralysis as officials refuse to perform certain standard tasks out of fear of being accused of bribetaking.