Shimon Peres was sworn in as the ninth president of Israel in Jerusalem on Sunday.

The inauguration started at 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) at the Israeli Knesset (parliament).

Peres examined the Israel Defense Forces' honor guard, accompanied by acting President and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik.

The president then placed a wreath on a monument commemorating Israel's fallen soldiers.

At 6:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), Peres was sworn in and signed a declaration.

In his speech delivered during the ceremony, Peres said that, "From this moment I will be the voices and the address for every citizen of the State of Israel....My home will be open to all."

Peres said in the speech that he did not dream of becoming president one day, "My dream as a boy was to be a shepherd or a poet of stars," but having been elected, it is a great honor for him to express the secret yearning and the overt goals of the nation to perform justice.

The veteran Israeli statesman also vowed to encourage the Middle East peace processes "within the house, with our neighbors, and in the whole region."

"The new era, in any case, lowers territorial borders and reduces discrimination among people, it is built more on creativity than on governing," said Peres.

Earlier on the day, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the swearing in of Shimon Peres, who has a political career of more than 65 years, to the post of president will "bring much honor to public life in Israel."

Olmert was quoted by local media as saying at a weekly cabinet meeting that, "If one were to academically research the qualities of the ideal candidate for presidency, Peres' experience and history would represent those qualities perfectly."

Peres, 83, was elected to the largely ceremonial post of president a month ago. His predecessor, Moshe Katsav resigned from the presidency two weeks ago, and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik has been serving as acting president in the interim.

Peres served twice as prime minister of Israel. He has also held many other significant cabinet posts including finance minister, foreign minister, and defense minister.

In the current Olmert government, he has served as Vice Premier and Minister for the Development of the Negev, Galilee and Regional Economy.

In 1994, Shimon Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize together with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for the peace talks that produced the Oslo Accords.