World leaders bid farewell to Nobel laureate Peres
World leaders including US President Barack Obama and Prince Charles were bidding farewell to Israeli ex-prime minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres on Friday as his funeral began under massive security.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was among attendees at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery and was seated in the front row, reportedly at the request of Peres's family.
Abbas knew Peres well and negotiated with him. In an extremely rare move, he also shook hands and spoke briefly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival.
Security forces were on high alert as the funeral began, with roads closed and thousands of officers deployed.
Some 70 countries were represented, with the range of leaders illustrating the respect Peres gained over the years in his transformation from hawk to committed peace advocate.
His death on Wednesday at the age of 93 drew tributes from around the world for Israel's last remaining founding father.
An estimated 50,000 people filed past his coffin as it lay in state outside parliament in Jerusalem throughout the day on Thursday.
Former US president Bill Clinton was among those who paid their last respects there, appearing moved as he stood in silence before the coffin.
Clinton had helped usher in the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians in the 1990s, which resulted in the Nobel prize for Peres.
After Peres's death, he called him "a genius with a big heart".
Obama arrived on Friday morning and plans to depart after the ceremony. He wore a black Jewish skullcap as he took his seat at the ceremony.
He and Clinton are scheduled to speak, along with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Netanyahu and parliament speaker Yuli Edelstein.
Others to speak include renowned writer Amos Oz as well as Peres's two sons and daughter.
The funeral was taking place under a white canopy in the leafy national cemetery, where many Israeli dignitaries are buried.
Around 8,000 police were being deployed for the commemorations. Preventative arrests of both Jews and Palestinians were made ahead of the funeral to avoid potential disruptions, police said.
"We are dealing with an operation on an unprecedented scale," said police chief Roni Alsheikh.
The last time such an event was held in Israel was the 1995 funeral for Yitzhak Rabin, Peres's rival in the Labour party but partner in negotiating the Oslo accords.
Peres will be buried next to Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist opposed to the accords.