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| The Israeli flag will be flown at half-mast at government buildings in Israel and Israeli diplomatic missions around the world |
Thousands of people are expected to
pay their final respects to former Israeli Prime Minister and President
Shimon Peres, who died at the age of 93.
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| Mr Peres (centre) shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his part in negotiating a peace deal with the Palestinians |
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his role negotiating the Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians a year earlier, a prize he shared with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
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Mr Peres had suffered a stroke two weeks ago and died on Wednesday in a hospital near Tel Aviv.
He will receive a state burial at a ceremony on Friday at Mount Herzel Cemetery in Jerusalem.
"A light has gone out," Mr Obama said in a statement about Mr Peres, calling him a "friend". "There are few people who we share this world with who change the course of human history, not just through their role in human events, but because they expand our moral imagination and force us to expect more of ourselves," he added.
Other world leaders set to attend his funeral include UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
It is not clear if the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will be present. He sent a letter of condolence to Mr Peres' family "expressing his sorrow and sadness".