Israel's Former President and PM Shimon Peres Funeral Today Friday Sep 30,2016

In a career spanning seven decades, Shimon Peres held nearly every major office, serving twice as prime minister and as president from 2007 to 2014.

He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for his role in negotiating the Oslo accords, which envisioned an independent Palestinian state.

Shimon Peres will be buried next to his so-called 'partner in peace' Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated by a Jewish nationalist in 1995.

The funeral was Jerusalem's biggest security operation for at least two decades with 8,000 police and soldiers lining the streets as the country's former prime minister was laid to rest.

On the streets of Jerusalem, as pedestrians were held up at cordons as VIPs left, members of the public were discussing Peres' legacy.

The funeral took place on Mount Herzl, where Peres is buried alongside other Israeli leaders - but far from the more private grave of his wife Sonia, who died in 2011. 

Mourners came from all of Israel's communities: rabbis in black coats, leaders of Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia holding ceremonial colourful umbrellas, Imams dressed in white, and representatives from churches.

The singer David D'or reduced many of the people gathered, Israelis and foreign visitors alike, to tears when he sang one of Peres' favourites - 'Our Father, Our King,' in Hebrew.

Knesset guards carry the flag-draped coffin during the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres at the Mount Herzel national cemetery in Jerusalem

Guards place the coffin of former Israeli President Shimon Peres on a podium for his funeral

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin pays his respects at the flag-draped coffin of Shimon Peres

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bows his head and observes a moment of silence after laying a wreath near the grave of Shimon Peres

US President Barack Obama eulogises former Israeli President Shimon Peres, comparing him to Nelson Mandela, the Queen and other great figures of the 20th century - and hoped his funeral could kickstart a peace process

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (left) is also at the funeral - his first visit to Israel since 2010 - and shook Benjamin Netanyahu's hand saying it had been a 'long long time'

The former US president, pictured here touching the coffin, joined 70 world leaders and royals including Barack Obama, Tony Blair, Prince Charles and King Felipe of Spain at the ceremony on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem

LIST OF WORLD LEADERS ATTENDING TODAY'S FUNERAL

US President Barack Obama

US Secretary of State John Kerry

Former US president Bill Clinton

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Prince Charles of Great Britain 

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas 

French President Francois Hollande

German President Joachim Gauck

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

King Felipe VI of Spain

Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte

European Union foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini

European Council President Donald Tusk

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process Nikolai Mladenov

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry

The grandchildren of Shimon Peres lay a wreath on the grave of their grandfather during the burial ceremony

SHIMON PERES: HOW FATHER OF THE NEW ISRAEL HAD AN UNPRECEDENTED SEVEN DECADES IN POLITICS

In an unprecedented seven-decade political career, Shimon Peres has filled nearly every position in Israeli public life.

—Shimon Perski is born on Aug. 2, 1923 in Vishneva, then part of Poland. He moves to pre-state Palestine in 1934 with his immediate family and later enters politics where he becomes a protegé of Israel's founding father David Ben-Gurion.

—In 1952, at age 29, he becomes the youngest person ever to serve as director-general of Israel's Defense Ministry. There he is credited with arming Israel's military almost from scratch and creating what is widely believed to be a nuclear arsenal.

—In 1959, Peres is first elected to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, serving almost uninterrupted until 2007. He is appointed deputy defense minister.

—In 1969, he is appointed minister of immigrant absorption, the first in a long line of Cabinet position to follow

—In 1977, he suffers defeat while running for prime minister, losing to Menachem Begin, whose Likud party rises to power for the first time.

—In 1984, he finally becomes prime minister after tying with Likud's Yitzhak Shamir and agreeing to share the job in a rotation. As prime minister, he disentangles Israeli troops from Lebanon and rescues the economy from triple-digit inflation.

— In 1992, he becomes foreign minister in the Labor party-led government, serving under his longtime rival Yitzhak Rabin. Together they work to forge the first peace accord with the Palestinians and a peace accord with Jordan. In 1994, they share the Nobel Peace Prize with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

—In 1995, after Rabin is assassinated by a Jewish ultranationalist opposed to Israel's peace moves, Peres became acting prime minister. Just six months later he is defeated by Benjamin Netanyahu in elections.

—In 2007, he is elected president, a largely ceremonial role but one that earns him the kind of national admiration that eluded him throughout his lengthy career.

—In 2014, Peres completes his presidential term, remaining active at his peace center until suffering a debilitating stroke on Sept. 13.