Mount Herzl Cementary

Mount Herzl (Mount of Remembrance) is the site of Israel’s national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west of Jerusalem beside Jerusalem Forest. It is named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism. Herzl’s tomb lies at the top of the hill. Yad Vashem, which commemorates the Holocaust, lies to the west of Mt. Herzl. Israel’s war dead are also buried there. Mount Herzl is 834 meters above sea level. Every plot section in Mount Herzl has a broad plaza for memorial services. Most state memorial ceremonies for those killed at war are conducted in the National Military and Police cemetery.

History

During summer 1949, Theodor Herzl’s remains were reinterred on a hill in West Jerusalem which faced the Mount of Olives from a distance and renamed in his honour, Mount Herzl. In November 1949, soldiers who fell during the War of Independence in the Jerusalem area were buried on the north slope of the hill. In 1951 the government decided to establish a national cemetery for Israeli leaders and fallen soldiers at Mount Herzl. It has served this purpose ever since.