Only 6,000 persons will be able to participate next week in the rites marking the reinterment in Jerusalem of the remains of Dr. Theodor Herzl, founder of political Zionism. Those invited to join in the ceremonies represent the various political parties in Israel.
All arrangements for the removal to Israel of the remains of Dr. Herzl, his parents and his sister, Paulina, are now in the hands of the Israeli Army. The coffins will be brought to Jerusalem Wednesday, Aug. 17, and will lay in state from 8 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. on a special platform in the courtyard of the Jewish Agency headquarters. Afterwards the caskets will be removed to the burial grounds.
The Israeli delegation which will leave tomorrow for Vienna to escort Herzl’s remains an route to the Jewish state is composed of Minister of Communications David Remez, representing the government, Col. Yosef Avidar, representing the General Staff, and Itzhak Gruenbaum, on behalf of the World Zionist Organization. A seven-man guard of honor will accompany the delegation and will include two captains from the Army, two from the Air Force, two from the Navy and one from the Chaplain’s office.
The delegation, after receiving the coffins, will fly to Israel on Monday. It is planned to have the plane fly over Haifa Tuesday morning where it will be intercepted by a fighter squadron. The plane will then circle Haifa three times, with the city’s population standing at attention and heavy artillery will fire several salvos.
The plane will continue on to Lydda Airport where it will land at 2 P.M., Israeli time. Members of the Knesset and other government officials, as well as delegates of all national institutions, will be on hand to greet the plane when it lands. The cortege will than proceed to Knesset Square in Tel Aviv where the coffins will lie in state from 4 P.M. to Wednesday morning, enabling large sections of the population to file past the coffins to pay their final tributes. Tel Aviv will mark the period from Tuesday 4 P.M. to Wednesday 5 P.M. as Herzl Day.
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