September 29, 2016 | No Comments
President Obama has been invited to speak at the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres, Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Thursday.
Earnest said the president’s remarks were still being drafted, but pointed to Obama’s lengthy statement released in the wake of the death of a founding father of Israel.
“I will always be grateful that I was able to call Shimon my friend,” the president said in a statement released Tuesday night. “Shimon was the essence of Israel itself — the courage of Israel’s fight for independence, the optimism he shared with his wife Sonya as they helped make the desert bloom, and the perseverance that led him to serve his nation in virtually every position in government across the entire life of the State of Israel.”
Obama called Peres a friend and recalled when he first visited him in Israel as a then U.S. senator.
As was previously announced, Obama will lead the U.S. delegation, and former President Bill Clinton will also attend. The full list of the delegation includes a number of senior White House officials, members of both parties of Congress and national security officials from previous administrations.