By GREER FAY CASHMANPeres 248.88(photo credit: AP [file])
President-elect Shimon Peres is due to be installed as Israel's ninth president on July 15, but the fact of the matter is that Peres took up residence at Beit Hanassi this week - well, not the real Peres and not the real presidential mansion.
Three artists invested 30 hours to create an eight-cm.-high statuette of Peres that has been placed in front of the gates of the scaled-down model of Beit Hanassi that is one of the attractions at Mini Israel in Latrun.
The Peres statuette is the ninth in a series honoring people who have made major contributions to Israel's image through personal example, according to Mini Israel CEO Haim Rogoska.
Among the others are Bnei Akiva founder Rabbi Moshe Zvi Neriya and legendary soccer goalkeeper Ya'acov Hodorov.
The Peres statuette will probably be seen by more people in person than the real thing. Mini Israel is visited by approximately 400,000 people each year.
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![Peres 248.88 (photo credit: AP [file])](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/8000 "Peres 248.88")