Poet, song writer, film maker and
playwright Haim Hefer was laid to rest on Wednesday at the Ein Hod Artists
Village in accordance with his wishes.
Though known primarily for his prolific output
of songs and poems, Hefer had also been involved in illegal immigration and in
his youth had smuggled Jews out of Syria. Later Yigal Allon, one of his Palmach
commanders, who had subsequently become a politician, sent him as a cultural emissary to
Los Angeles from whence he returned with the founding residents of
Karmiel.
Prior to his funeral
at Ein Hod, Hefer's coffin lay in state at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv where
he was eulogized both on and off stage, and where the general public as well as
many public figures, especially from the entertainment industry, along with
veteran Palmachniks who had been his comrades in arms, paid their last respects.
Since Hefer's
passing, statements on the loss to the nation were published by President Shimon
Peres, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat,
Education Minister Gideon Saar and Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich among
others.
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