Peres, Guinness record holder

President Shimon Peres, in addition to his many other accomplishments, is now an official Guinness World Record holder for delivering the largest-ever online civics course.

He broke the previous record of 5,000 students by broadcasting a lecture to over 9,000 students in 215 high school classrooms throughout the country.

Peres said “it was a privilege” to teach the students and field their questions, and told them that he was “jealous that you are all still pupils.” Israeli students “have to excel,” he said, because “Israel is a small country and as young people you are in competition with young people all over the world.”

Senior Vice President of Guinness World Records Marco Frigatti was in attendance to monitor the proceedings, and noted that not only Peres, but “all the students are Guinness World Record holders.” Peres, a person “who has seen the country from its origins to today,” was the perfect person to speak to the students and to demonstrate the technological innovation that makes such teaching possible, Frigatti said.

The initiative was run by Cisco Video Technologies Israel Ltd., in collaboration with the Amal vocational school network. Cisco was using the opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of its communications technologies and their potential for online education.

Last June, an Israeli designer broke another Guinness world record involving Peres by assembling a massive 6,000-coffee-cup mosaic of the president’s face at the Tel Aviv port.

Marissa Newman contributed to this report.