Israelis pay respects to Yitzhak Shamir
Late premier's casket placed at Knesset Plaza before funeral to allow public to pay its respects
Shamir will be laid to rest on Monday evening in the Nation's Great cemetery in Mount Herzl.
Rivlin said, "Yitzhak, you were an unbreakable rock. On your shoulders you carried the weight of this nation, its past and its future. Nothing made you stray from your path.
"Only one weakness managed to break this formidable rock, to carve its stones and make them into pillars of the Kingdom of Israel. It was love: your love for this persecuted people, your love for the ancestral homeland, your love for your children, your home, your Shulamit."
Yitzhak Shamir's casket at Knesset Plaza (Photo: Knesset Channel)
Various state officials and public figures expressed their sorrow over Shamir's death on Saturday.
"Yitzhak Shamir was a brave warrior for Israel, before and after its inception. He was a great patriot and his enormous contribution will be forever etched in our chronicles," President Shimon Peres said in a statement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the former leader, saying that "He was a paragon of loyalty to the Land of Israel and the eternal values of the Jewish people."
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