World leaders flock to Knesset to mourn Shimon Peres

Israeli citizens joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US President Bill Clinton at the Knesset to pay their respects to Shimon Peres.

The former Israeli president’s body is lying in state in the parliament buildings’ plaza ahead of his funeral tomorrow.

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.

Clinton, who arrived in Jerusalem earlier this morning, had asked to be taken directly to the Knesset to pay his respects.

Peres – who held nearly every position in Israel’s government during a political career that spanned seven decades – died in the early hours of Wednesday at the age of 93, two weeks after suffering a massive stroke.

US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Holland are among those who have confirmed they will attend. Up to 80 other world leaders are expected to arrive in Israel between now and tomorrow.

The state funeral is expected to be the largest such gathering in Israel since the 1995 funeral of assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.