THEY came in private jets, even on Air Force One. They were followed by gaggles of security guards. But for all the high-profile mourners at Shimon Peres’ funeral in Jerusalem, it was his daughter who summed up the man.
The leader of the free world, US President Barack Obama, eulogised Shimon Peres with 2000 words; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took 1200 words; Tsvia Walden, a linguistics professor, needed less than a dozen words to capture what her dad was all about.
She turned the graveside Kaddish into a summary of his dying wish. God should bring peace “to us and all of his people, Israel”, she prayed, adding: “And all humankind.”
Israel hasn’t seen a comparable funeral this century. It was a showcase of the deep effect that Peres had on so many world figures, and of how seriously they took his commitment to peace. The emotion of Obama, Bill Clinton, and of Israel’s top novelist Amos Oz was genuine; their eulogies were heartfelt.
Read the article by Nathan Jeffay in the Australian Jewish News.