Israeli dignitaries and foreign diplomats, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Vice Premier Shimon Peres and President Moshe Katsav, turned out Thursday to pay tribute to Teddy Kollek, as the former Jerusalem mayor was laid to rest at Mount Herzl National Cemetery.

Hundreds of people had paid their final respects to Kollek as his coffin lay in state at Safra Square in the city center Thursday, from where the funeral procession made its way to Mount Herzl.

Kollek was buried in the section of the cemetery reserved for Israel's great leaders.

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Peres, Olmert, Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupiolanski and a tearful Dalia Itzik, the Knesset speaker, all eulogized Kollek.

"When you went to sleep, and when you woke up, only one thing was on your mind: Jerusalem," said Lupolianski.

Olmert, who ended Kollek's 28-year tenure as mayor when he beat him in the 1993 elections, said his predecessor was responsible for turning Jerusalem into Israel's capital.

"There were mayors before him who built and worked and contributed to the city, and there will be after him. But there will never be another Teddy Kollek," Olmert said at the ceremony.

Peres praised his "unrelenting commitment to the Jewish nation."

Representatives from across the political spectrum attended the funeral, including Defense Minister Amir Peretz and former prime minister Ehud Barak from Kollek's own Labor Party, and Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai of Shas.

Flags over city hall were lowered to half-staff Tuesday, after news broke that the legendary mayor, who shepherded the transition of Jerusalem from a Mideast backwater with a glorious past to a world capital of culture and politics, had died at the age of 95.

"Teddy was Jerusalem and Jerusalem was Teddy," Lupolianski said Tuesday. "With his spirit and personality he symbolized the true unified Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. The city of Jerusalem and the entire state are indebted to Teddy for his tremendous contribution to the people of Israel, the state and its capital."

Named after Theodor Herzl, Kollek served as mayor from 1965 until 1993, elected to the position six times until his defeat at the hands of Ehud Olmert. His building and restoration projects were said to have been Jerusalem's most ambitious since the 16th-century Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent erected the walls of the Old City.

"The name of Kollek will remain forever a part of the Jerusalem scene," said Olmert. "The government and people of Israel bow their heads in deep sorrow at the passing of one of the giants among the founding fathers of the state."

His death was mourned by political leaders around the world. German President Horst Koehler described Kollek's death as "a great loss" for Israel.

"Teddy Kollek extended the hand of conciliation to Germans at an early stage and was personally committed to reconcilement between the German and Jewish peoples," Koehler said in a condolence telegram to Kollek's widow.

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch called Kollek the "mayor of all mayors," in an interview with Channel 10.

In 1988, Kollek was awarded the nation's highest civilian honor, the Israel Prize, for his contributions to building the modern Jerusalem.

Kollek is survived by his widow Tamar, son Amos and daughter Osnat.