Nechama Rivlin, Israel's first lady, was laid to rest in Jerusalem on Wednesday at Mount Herzl, where many Israeli leaders are buried.
Senior Israeli officials, including Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Israel Defense Forces Aviv Kochavi were among those who attended, as were U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and other foreign diplomats.
Rivlin had suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, a condition in which scar tissue accumulates in the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe, and had undergone a lung transplant in March but the complications had her hospitalized until her death.
Earlier on Wednesday, hundreds of Israelis arrived at the Jerusalem Theater to pay their last respects to Israel's first lady Nechama Rivlin. Rivlin's coffin lied in repose at the theater ahead of the funeral.
After kissing the flag-draped coffin, the president addressed the crowd and said, "Thank you, everyone, for your care and love for this great woman."
Rivlin reportedly told his inner circle that he was "happy that she was no longer suffering, and that she deserved all the love and appreciation for her activity."
Rivlin, who passed away at the age of 73 – just one day before her 74th birthday – led a quiet life by the side of her much more overt husband, the current president of Israel.
A full-fledged sabra (native-born Israeli) born on Moshav Herut; her parents, Mendi and Drora Kayla Shulman, helped establish the community. Rivlin earned a degree in botany and zoology, along with a teaching diploma, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
She became a researcher at Hebrew University in 1967. Her initial role was in the Zoology Department; she later worked in the Ecology Department as well as in the Genetics Department. She wed Reuven Rivlin in 1971.
