The headstone on the grave of Israel’s ninth President, Shimon Peres, z’l, was unveiled Friday (Oct. 28) in a ceremony held at Mount Herzl Cemetery in Jerusalem, marking the 30th day since his passing at age 93.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin both attended the ceremony with their wives, as did members of the Peres family, friends and dignitaries.
“In the days since you left us, stories about you and your deeds have come to light,” Rivlin said in an address. “Your role in the establishment of the country has been told over and over again: from the Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, Israel Aircraft Industries, Israel Military Industries, the Entebbe Operation, the settlement enterprise, the elimination of inflation and the national economic plan, your diplomatic moves, and your faith in peace.”
Netanyahu recalled in his speech, “When I was an officer, we patrolled the country day and night. One night we got to Dimona, and they told us, ‘You can’t cross this line.’ It took me several decades before I was finally able to cross the line and go into the Dimona reactor. “Shimon Peres is the sole reason it was established,” he said. He added that he has asked that the nuclear research institute be renamed after Shimon Peres, “as is so befitting for a visionary and a man of action.”
Peres is describe on his gravestone as “one of the founding fathers of the state, which he served his entire life.”
A mini-resume is inscribed, showing the positions he held in the government, and his notable contributions to the country. He is called a “statesman, a lover of books, poetry and art, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, a visionary and a pragmatist.”
On one side of the glossy marker is a quote inscribed from Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, “The spiritual character and Israel’s inner strength will be a main factor in the future of our security and our international position.”
On another side, there is a passage from the Book of Isaiah, “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares…”
On a third side, there is an excerpt from a poem by Hebrew and Yiddish poet Haim Nachman Bialik, “For one more song he had…”