Israeli president presented with Belarusian commemorative birth certificate

A representative of the Belarusian foreign ministry on Monday presented a commemorative birth certificate to Israeli President Shimon Peres, who was born in what is now Belarus in August 1923.

The 89-year-old head of state accepted the document from Ihar Lyashchenya, head of the ministry’s Department for Africa and the Middle East, in his residence in Jerusalem. The ceremony was also attended by Anatoly Motkin, the honorary consul of Belarus in Israel.

Mr. Lyashchenya stressed that the Israeli president was always welcome in Belarus.

Mr. Peres was born in the village of Vishneva in what is now the Valozhyn district, Minsk region.

His eldest daughter Tzvia Walden visited the village this past May. During her visit a plaque was unveiled on the house that now sits on the lot where Mr. Peres grew up.