Bill Clinton pays tribute to Israel's former President Peres

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived on Thursday at the Israeli parliament to pay tribute to former President Shimon Peres.

Clinton was the first among dozens of world leaders expected to arrive in Israel for the funeral of the veteran statesman and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Live broadcast on local TV channels showed Clinton standing silently before the coffin of his old friend Peres, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 93 following a stroke.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Knesset (parliament) said that Clinton met earlier with Israel's President Reuven Rivlin.

On Thursday morning, Peres' casket was laid in state at the Knesset's main plaza to allow members of the public to pay their final respects to one of the nation's last founding fathers.

Ofer Lefler, a spokesman for the Israeli Airport Authority, said that some 70 airplanes of international dignitaries are expected to land on Thursday at Ben Gurion Airport.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the list includes French President Francois Hollande, Britain's Prince Charles, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove.

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to land early Friday morning, said the Foreign Ministry.

The funeral will be held on Friday morning in Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, in a cemetery lot where Israel's former leaders are buried.

Police forces said in a statement that securing the funeral would be the "largest" operation of its kind in Israeli history.

In 1994, Peres received the Nobel Prize for his involvement in the short-lived peace agreement with Palestinians which was signed in 1993 during a White House ceremony in the presence of President Clinton.

Peres shared the prize with the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Peres served as Israel's ninth president from 2007 to 2014.

His political career spanning nearly seven decades covered almost every significant office, as he served twice as prime minister, then foreign minister, defense minister, finance minister, chairman of the Labor Party, and opposition leader in parliament.

In 1985, as prime minister of the right-wing Likud party's unity government, he led the "Economic Stabilization Plan."

The plan, which included an austerity budget and radical reforms, marked the transition of the country from a predominantly social-democratic economy to neoliberal-capitalist market.

He also founded Israel's nuclear program, and played a vital role in establishing the country's military and aviation industries.

In addition, he was instrumental in forging a path for the export of Israeli weapons and security equipment throughout the world. Endit