The World Zionist Organization announced Wednesday that the remains of Shimon and Rivka Herzl, grandparents of Theodor Herzl, will be reburied at Mount Herzl on August 5 in a state ceremony. President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to attend, according to reports. The remains were exhumed earlier Wednesday from the Jewish cemetery in Zemun, Belgrade.
The World Zionist Organization announced Wednesday evening that the remains of Theodor Herzl's grandparents, Shimon and Rivka Herzl, will be reinterred in a state ceremony at Mount Herzl on August 5. President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to attend, according to reports. The announcement sets a specific date for the reburial, which officials had previously said would take place next week following the exhumation earlier Wednesday.
The exhumation of the remains from the Jewish cemetery in Zemun, Belgrade, was carried out Wednesday morning by a ZAKA special missions unit on behalf of the World Zionist Organization, as The Zioneer reported at 11:51 Jerusalem time. WZO chairman Yaakov Hagoel said at the time, 'Zion returns its sons to her,' and ZAKA director Tzvi Hassid said the organization was proud to be partners in the national mission. The diplomatic effort to bring the remains to Israel spanned four years, the WZO said.
The reburial on August 5 will take place 77 years after Theodor Herzl's own remains were brought from Vienna and reinterred at Mount Herzl in 1949, fulfilling his vision of a Jewish state. As The Zioneer reported on Sunday, Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi visited Herzl's grave during his Israel trip earlier this week, underscoring the site's symbolic importance.
No further details about the ceremony program or final confirmations of attendance by the president and prime minister have been released.
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