Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the funeral of Shimon Peres. Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO.

JNS.org — Israel’s nuclear research facility in Dimona will be named after the late former president, Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday, during the unveiling of the elder statesman’s tombstone at the Mount Herzl national cemetery in Jerusalem.

At the service, attended by 1,800 people, Netanyahu said, “Before I even asked, the Israel Atomic Energy Commission decided [to do it]. [Peres] walked among us as a beacon of knowledge and curiosity, with shining eyes filled with hopes and dreams. He left us one instruction: Establish a state that would not shame our children nor disappoint our grandchildren. We will do everything, dear Shimon, to make that happen.”

The facility, located in the Negev desert, will be called “The Shimon Peres Center for Nuclear Science.”

The Jewish state maintains a policy of ambiguity about its nuclear program, neither confirming nor denying the existence of an arsenal.