JERUSALEM (EJP)—Israel’s former iconic Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who died Saturday at age 85, will be laid in state at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., during which the public is invited to pay their respects to the country’s 11th premier.
On Monday, a state memorial service will be held in the Knesset at 10 a.m. where President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and family members will speak. The service will be followed by a funeral at 2:30 p.m. on Sharon’s Negev Shikmim Farm, where he will be laid to rest beside his wife Lily.
Senior guests who will attend the funeral include U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Quartet representative and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Czech Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok, Russian State Duma Chairman Sergey Naryshkin and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.