Sapir Buried in Kfar Saba Where He Began His Work As a Young Pioneer

Pinhas Sapir was buried today in the cemetery of Kfar Saba, surrounded by the same orange groves in which he worked as a young pioneer in Palestine 43 years ago. There was some feeling that the last part of the state funeral of the leader, described as an architect of Israel’s industry, of Israel’s development townships and of new immigrant settlements should have had more of a private nature.

But thousands of Kfar Saba residents stood for hours along the streets of the town, which is north of Tel Aviv, and thousands more surrounded the cemetery into which only ticket holders were permitted. Residents and arrivals stood in silent homage until the army’s burial society filled the grave. The military command car bearing the coffin and the lengthy procession of dignitaries which came from Jerusalem, where the first stage of the state funeral took place yesterday, arrived at Kfar Saba in mourning. Shops here were closed and traffic was minimal.

Only one person spoke at the open grave. Kfar Saba’s Mayor Ze’ev Geller, lauded Sapir as the leader who began his life as a pioneer working in the orange groves here, where he started the water supply company which grew into the national Mekorot Water Co. Kaddish and El Mole Rachamim were recited to complete the rite.

President Ephraim Katzir shock hands with Sapir’s widow, Rifka, the son and daughters, then former Premier Golda Meir and Premier Yitzhak Rabin extended condolences. Then came a long line of Cabinet members, Knesset members, Labor Party leaders, opposition leaders, Jewish Agency officials, including members of the American Section who had flown to Israel for the funeral, American Jewish leaders, delegations from Britain and other countries, as well as Kfar Saba residents, neighbors and friends. They had all attended the earlier state rites in Jerusalem.

STATE FUNERAL IN JERUSALEM

In the first part of the state funeral, the coffin had been placed in the courtyard of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency building in Jerusalem. It was then taken from there to the Binyanei Ha’ooma (Convention Hall) where Jewish leaders and personalities, including Mrs. Sapir, the Sapir children and seven grandchildren, private citizens and Jewish leaders from around the world somberly passed by the coffin, paying respects to the late chairman of the Executives of the WZO and the Agency, and former Finance Minister.

Rabin eulogized Sapir at a special meeting of the Cabinet attended by members of the WZO and Agency Executives, and by WZO and Agency members from overseas, Sapir died of a heart attack Tuesday in Beersheba, Rabin said that he had met Sapir earlier in the day in Netavim in the Negev, where he arrived after an intensive and tiring day. He added that “we who knew Mr. Sapir also know that this was a typical day in life, much like any other day.”

Rabin praised the achievements and activities of Sapir, declaring that “wherever you turn in this State, you will find traces of Sapir’s activities,” and that there was not one field in Israel’s development in which Mr. Sapir had not been involved. Remarking that “many of us” had often wondered why Sapir pushed himself so intensely in his work, Rabin said he believed the answer was Sapir’s conviction that “time is pushing the Jewish people and that under no circumstances should there be a moment to miss in realizing the redemption of the land and the people.”

Yehoshua Rabinowitz, Finance Minister, said “the heart refuses to believe that Pinhas Sapir is gone.” He cited Sapir’s “great achievements” in Israel’s industrial sector and pushing Israel’s economy straight ahead.

SCORES OF CONDOLENCES RECEIVED

Among the scores of statements of condolence received from Jewish leaders abroad was one from Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress. He declared that “Sapir’s devotion to Zionism and everything Jewish, his fantastic powers of work, his infallible memory and knowledge of detail, his absolute integrity and his disregard for every personal comfort which brought about his premature death represents the best type of a Zionist, a halutz and a Jewish idealist.”

Dr. Goldmann cited Sapir’s work as an active leader of the WJC, and with the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.