Mount Herzl ( Har Hertsl), also Har ha-Zikaron ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside the Jerusalem Forest.
It is named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern 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 above sea level.
History The primary place of honor for Jewish burials in the pre-State era was on the Mount of Olives. In 1934, Zionist leader Menahem Ussishkin organized the re-interment of Leon Pinsker in Nicanor Cave located on the grounds of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Mount Scopus. in an attempt to build a pantheon for the great leaders of the Jewish nation. Ussishkin was buried there himself in 1941."M. M. Ussishkin Laid To Rest In Ancient Cave On Mount Scopus Jerusalem", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, October 5, 1941. Accessed February 22, 2026. "All Jewish activity was suspended in Palestine today at 11 A.M. when this city witnessed the most impressive funeral ever held in Palestine in modern times, as Menahem Mendel Uasishkin, doyen of the Zionist movement and President of the Jewish National Fund, was laid to rest in 'Nikanor's Cave' in the grounds of the Hebrew University on Mount Sсорus.... Ussishkin expressed a desire to be buried there when he died. He planned to convert the Cave into a pantheon for Zionist leaders." When Mount Scopus became an enclave, cut off from Jerusalem, the implementation of this plan was no longer feasible. The future site of Mount Herzl was chosen for the symbolism of its status as the city's tallest mountain and faced the traditional, but then inaccessible, site on the Mount of Olives.Steinberg, Jessica. "For Israel’s early leaders, burials were all about location", The Times of Israel, October 16, 2015. Accessed February 22, 2026. "The country’s first cemetery was on the Mount of Olives, the most important Jewish cemetery in the world, he said. 'Everyone was buried there until 1948, even the Zionists, because there were no other cemeteries,' he said of the hillside that was under Jordanian control from 1948 to 1967.... Once Mount Scopus became an enclave in Jordanian-occupied territory after the 1948 war, the idea of that cemetery was scrapped in favor of Mount Herzl.... 'This was the highest mountain in Jerusalem and it was symbolic,' said Bar, pointing to the view still mostly visible from the flat, squared gravesite."
During summer 1949, Theodor Herzl's remains were disinterred from their original location in Vienna, flown to Israel and transferred to a hill in West Jerusalem which faced the Mount of Olives from a distance and renamed in his honour, Mount Herzl. Nearly 400,000 people came out to pay their respects to Herzl as his coffin was transferred from Lod Airport and reburied in state ceremonies."Israelis Re-Inter Herzl Atop a Jerusalem Hill", The New York Times, August 18, 1949. Accessed February 22, 2026. "The body of Theodor Herzl, who is credited with transforming Zionism from a mystic dream to a practical movement leading to the establishment of the Jewish State, was reinterred here today on the peak of Jerusalem's highest hill. It was buried in a coffin that had lain for forty-five years in a Vienna cemetery. An estimated 400,000 Israelis turned out to see the coffin between its landing yesterday at Lydda Airport and the final interment today." In November 1949, soldiers who fell during the 1947–1949 Palestine war in the Jerusalem area were buried on the north slope of the hill, with the Defense Minisry formally establishing the site as a national cemetery."From dream to reality: The history of Mount Herzl as Israel's National Cemetery", The Jerusalem Post, May 16, 2024. Accessed February 22, 2026. "The hill was selected after Mount Scopus was made a non-option during the Independence War; it also faces the Mount of Olives, making it a fitting location..... The National Cemetery was established on Mount Herzl in November 1949 by the decision of the Defense Ministry."
Apart from Theodor Herzl, Mt. Herzl is the burial place of five of Israel's prime ministers: Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin (who is buried beside his wife Leah) and Shimon Peres. Israeli presidents are also buried on Mt. Herzl, as are other prominent Jewish and Zionist leaders.
Mt. Herzl is the venue for many commemorative events and national celebrations.
The military section was designed and landscaped by two Hungarian-born architects, Asher Hiram and Haim Giladi.
Theodor Herzl's grave
In 1903, Theodor Herzl wrote in his will: I wish to be buried in a metal coffin next to my father, and to remain there until the Jewish people will transfer my remains to Eretz Israel. The coffins of my father, my sister Pauline, and of my close relatives who will have died until then will also be transferred there.
When Herzl died a year later, he was interred in Vienna. Forty-five years later, Herzl's remains were brought to Israel and re-interred in Jerusalem. The location of the burial site was selected by a special state commission in the top of a hill in Jerusalem. He was buried on 17 August 1949. A temporary stone marked his grave for several years until the site was developed into a national cemetery. Sixty-three entries were submitted in the competition for the design of his new tombstone. The winner was Joseph Klarwein's design, consisting of an unadorned black granite stone inscribed with the name Herzl.Landscape and Ideology: Reinterment of Renowned Jews in the Land of Israel, Doron Bar
The area around his tomb was expanded into the plaza where the first Independence Day ceremony was held in 1950.
Despite Herzl's wishes, his daughter Pauline and son Hans were not originally buried beside him. Their remains were moved to Mt. Herzl in 2006. A third daughter was murdered in the Holocaust and her place of burial is unknown. The small Stephen Norman Park, located between the Herzl Museum and the Herzl Educational Center, is dedicated to the memory of Herzl's only grandson, who killed himself in the United States in 1946 after learning about the fate of his family during the Holocaust and being confronted with Jewish misery in the Displaced Persons camps, and was reinterred on Mt. Herzl in December 2007. Herzl's parents and sister are also buried at Mount Herzl.
National Civil Cemetery Israel's main cemetery for the leaders of the country and people who sacrificed their lives for the country is located on the southern slope of Mt. Herzl, established there in 1952 when Ben Gurion decided to bury the finance minister in Helkat Gedolei Ha'Uma, close to Herzl's grave. The design of the cemetery area was continued over the following years when other famous people from the Zionist movement were brought to be buried there.
Great Leaders of the Nation The Great Leaders of the Nation's Plot or Memorial Park holds the graves of several Prime Ministers, Presidents, Knesset speakers and other chosen national leaders of the State of Israel. It forms a separate section of the Mount Herzl cemetery from that of the leaders of the Zionist Organization (after 1960: World Zionist Organization), which is situated nearby.
The Hebrew name Helkat Gedolei Ha'Uma () is used in common parlance either in a narrower meaning, for the State of Israel leaders' section, or in a wider one, which includes pre-state Zionist leaders.
Buried there are Presidents Zalman Shazar and Chaim Herzog, Shimon Peres and Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and his wife Leah Rabin. Other notable graves are those of the first speaker of the Knesset, Yosef Sprinzak and his wife Hanna, the first Minister of Finance, Eliezer Kaplan, Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek, and First Lady Aura Herzog. Despite the national significance of the cemetery, some Israeli leaders were buried elsewhere, most notably Chaim Weizmann (buried at Weizmann House), Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (buried at Har HaMenuchot Cemetery); David Ben-Gurion (buried at Midreshet Ben-Gurion); Menachem Begin (buried at Mount of Olives) and Ariel Sharon (buried at his home in the Negev). Deciding who should be buried on Mt. Herzl has sometimes been controversial. For example, the decision to bury Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who died in 1940, on Mt. Herzl, was fiercely opposed by many Labour Party stalwarts, who claimed that Jabotinsky was an ultra-right nationalist undeserving of such an honour. Only in 1964 did Prime Minister Levi Eshkol decide in favor of burying him there, in the interest of promoting national reconciliation and setting aside political grievances. Soldiers awarded with the Medal of Valor may also be buried at Mount Herzl.
To the north of Herzl's grave is a plot reserved for the leaders of the (World) Zionist Organization, among them David Wolffsohn, Nahum Sokolow, Simcha Dinitz, and Arieh Dulzin. In the same section are the graves and cenotaphs of close relatives of Theodor Herzl.
The grave of Ze'ev Jabotinsky and his family is in a separate plot southwest of Herzl's grave.
Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial
The Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial is the main memorial for all victims of terrorism in Israel from 1851 until today. The memorial was opened in 1997, and every year a ceremony is held on the plaza, in memory of the victims of terror. The memorial is located in the National Civil Cemetery next to Helkat Gedolei Ha'Uma.
Other memorials Olei Hagardom plot: Jewish underground fighters executed for their activities Common grave of the 204 illegal immigrants who went down with the Salvador in December 1940Corry Guttstadt, Turkey, the Jews, and the Holocaust, p. 113. Cambridge University Press 2013, Common grave of the 44 immigrants aboard the Egoz (sank in 1961) Memorial for the Last of Kin – last Holocaust survivors of their families, who died fighting in the Israel Defense Forces Memorial for the Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia
National military cemetery
The main Israel Defense Forces cemetery is located on the northern slope of Mt. Herzl. It was established in November 1949, when soldiers who fell in the Jerusalem area were buried there. In 1949, the government decided to turn the site into the main cemetery for IDF members who have fallen in the line of duty. The Israel Police cemetery, for police officers who have fallen in the line of duty, is also located there.
There are specific areas or monuments for the following categories of fallen fighters: National Memorial Hall For Israel's Fallen Garden of the Missing in Action (burial places are unknown) Memorial for the Jewish soldiers in the Red Army in World War II Memorial for the Jewish soldiers in the Polish Army in World War II Memorial for the volunteers of the Yishuv (Jewish community in Palestine) in World War II Memorial for the 140 Jewish Palestinian soldiers who went down with the British ship SS Erinpura in 1943 during World War II Memorial for the 23 (in Hebrew numerals: Kaf-Gimel) Palmach sea commandoes who disappeared during Operation Boatswain under British command in 1941 Common grave of the Nabi Daniel Convoy of 27 March 1948 (15 dead) Monument for the fallen fighters of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem (surrendered on 28 May 1948) Memorial for the 69 sailors who went down with the Dakar submarine in 1968 and whose bodies were never recovered Common grave of the defenders of Neve Yaakov who fell in 1948 Common grave of the fighters fallen in the Battles of Latrun of 1948 Common grave of the Radar Hill fighters