Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein led the lowering of the Knesset courtyard flags to half mast Wednesday afternoon, as a sign of mourning for the passing of former President Shimon Peres. On Thursday, Peres will lie in state at the Knesset and members of the public will arrive to pay him their last respects.
A Knesset honor guard stood near the flags in the courtyard, and after the lowering ceremony, Speaker Edelstein spoke to the press.
"I went to visit Shimon Peres at the hospital last week and I was optimistic. How can you be anything else when you're standing next to Shimon Peres, the eternal optimist. I was sure that this time too, when the Knesset winter session opens, Shimon Peres will be sitting in the plenum as he always has."
He added that "Shimon Peres was an MK who served in the Knesset for an incredible amount of years. 48 years. I doubt anyone will ever even come close to that record. We're parting today from someone who wasn't just like a family member. We're parting from the head of the family. A man who looked to contribute his whole life. This is how we'll remember him forever."
In the Knesset, preparations are being completed for the arrival of the public tomorrow to pay their last respects to Peres, and estimates are that many thousands will come to the Knesset from all over the country. The coffin will be placed in the Knesset courtyard on Thursday morning and at 8:45 a.m., President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and the Knesset Speaker will lay flower wreaths by the side of the coffin.
The public will be welcome to pass by the coffin and pay respects from 9:00 in the morning until the late hours of the evening.
Earlier, the Knesset Speaker said a psalm and lit a memorial candle placed in the Knesset near a portrait of Shimon Peres wrapped in black. The candle and the portrait were placed prominently near the entrance to the plenum.