World leaders and his family eulogize Israel’s Shimon Peres
JERUSALEM — Former Israeli President Shimon Peres was buried Friday after a funeral attended by scores of world leaders and dignitaries. He died earlier this week aged 93, after suffering a stroke. Peres’ family, Israel’s prime minister and president, U.S. President Barack Obama and former U.S. President Bill Clinton eulogized him at the ceremony.
Here are some of the highlights of their words:
“I could not be more honoured to be in Jerusalem to say farewell to my friend Shimon Peres who showed us that justice and hope are at the heart of the Zionist idea. A free life in a homeland regained. A secure life in a nation that can defend itself by itself. A full life in friendship with nations who can be counted on as allies always. A bountiful life driven by simple pleasures of family and by big dreams. This was Shimon Peres’ life; this is the state of Israel. This is the story of the Jewish people over the last century, it was made possible by a founding generation that counts Shimon as one of its own.”
“In many ways he reminded me of some other giants of the 20th century that I have had the honour to meet, men like Nelson Mandela, women like Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth — leaders who have seen so much, whose lives spanned such momentous epics that they find no need to posture or traffic in what’s popular in the movement.”