Aura Herzog, mother of President Isaac Herzog, died on Monday at the age of 97, the President's Office announced.
The family asked to mourn her death in private and requested the public to "refrain" from approaching family members directly. "The Office of the President requests that the general public and media outlets allow the Herzog family to grieve."
Herzog passed away in her sleep and will be interned next to her husband, former President Chaim Herzog on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
She was a social activist for many years and founded The Council for a Beautiful Israel – Israel's first environmental NGO - among many other public advocacy rolls.
She served as first lady during her husbands' term as Israel's sixth president between 1983 and 1993.
Herzog was born in Egypt to parents who hailed from Jaffa and were deported by the Ottoman rulers of then Palestine during World War I.
She was raised in Ismailia and in Cairo and earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
She moved to Israel in 1946 and joined the pre-state Haganah paramilitary organization, which later became the IDF.
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Aura and Chaim Herzog with three of their four children, in 1967
(Photo: David Rubinger)
She joined the first diplomat's course at the Jewish Agency and married Chaim Herzog a year later, supporting him through his careers in the military and in public service.
During the 1948 War of Independence, Herzog served as a science officer and was wounded in a terror attack on National Institutions building in March, targeting the then-Prime Minister David Ben Gurion.
Aura Herzog was survived by four children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Her sister Suzie was the wife of Israel's former Foreign Minister Abba Eban.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett issued a statement of condolences to the first family. "Along with all Israelis, I was saddened by the news of the death of Aura Herzog," he said.
"Aura was a public servant and social activist who loved her people and her country. She lived in modesty and raised a wonderful family while working for the public good.," the statement read.
"My deepest condolences are sent to her family. May her memory be a blessing."