“Joan Rivers brought laughter to millions around the world and was proud of her Jewish heritage and a vocal supporter of the State of Israel. We will miss her deeply and we send our heartfelt condolences to her family,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a statement Thursday night.
Rivers died at the age of 81 in Sinai Hospital in New York hospital after suffering a heart attack during routine throat surgery at Yorkville Endoscopy Center in Manhattan.
The New York State Dept. of Health is investigating her death.
Funeral services will be held Sunday at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El, where she was a member.
She once state, “When I die, I want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action…I want Craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene! I want it to be Hollywood all the way. I don’t want some rabbi rambling on.
“I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents. I don’t want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing ‘Mr. Lonely.’
“I want to look gorgeous, better dead than I do alive. I want to be buried in a Valentino gown and I want Harry Winston to make me a toe tag. And I want a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyoncé’s.”