From Belgrade to Jerusalem: Herzl's grandparents to be reinterred in Israel

The remains of Theodor Herzl's grandparents, Shimon and Rivka Herzl, will be reinterred on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, arriving from Belgrade in the coming days. A state ceremony, coinciding with the 77th anniversary of Herzl's reburial, will mark the transfer and include a formal funeral attended by President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Shimon and Rivka Herzl were significant inspirations for Theodor Herzl's Zionist vision. His grandfather, Rabbi Shimon, maintained a close relationship with Rabbi Yehuda Shlomo Alkalai, an early Zionist forerunner, and shared Alkalai's teachings with young Herzl, directly influencing his later writings and vision for a Jewish state.