Today marks Israel’s national Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, one day before the country celebrates the anniversary of its independence. For the entire nation, it is a difficult day, but for 16,307 bereaved families, it is a day of immeasurable pain.
Since 1860, 23,477 individuals have given their lives to establish, protect and defend the State of Israel, including 68 in this past year alone. Another 59 injured veterans who died this year were also acknowledged as fallen soldiers. They have left behind 9,442 bereaved parents, 4,917 bereaved widows and 1,948 orphans under the age of 30.
Israel commemorates Memorial Day, like all Jewish holidays, from sundown the evening before. This means that on Tuesday at 7:25 PM, flags were lowered to half-mast, followed by a one-minute siren at 8:00 pm. The siren will sound again Wednesday morning at 11:00, this time for two minutes, and the country will come to a standstill to remember the fallen.
On Tuesday, following the siren, the official memorial ceremony took place at the Western Wall, attended by President Reuven Rivlin, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and a host of bereaved families.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take part in a memorial service at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. This is one of many services taking place at military cemeteries across the country. According to a Defense Ministry statement, 1.5 million Israelis are expected to visit the cemeteries over the course of the day, and in preparation, 20,000 chairs will be distributed – one beside each military grave.
More than one hundred ambulances will be on standby at the sites, and water bottles will be distributed at cemetery entrances for attendees. Shuttles will also be provided for ease of access from many sites across the country.
The Defense Ministry has also set up a memorial website (in Hebrew only) for mourners to light a virtual candle in memory of the fallen. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon lit a candle on the site on Monday, according to Israel HaYom. Accompanying the candle, he wrote, “May we be worthy of their sacrifice and may we be wise enough to follow their path while adhering to our values as a society and as a people.”
In addition, an online project to read a chapter of Psalms or of Mishna in memory of each of the fallen is now in its second year. While the chapters appear only in Hebrew, the instructions and information on the Psalms site can be read in English.
On Monday, in advance of official commemorations, President Rivlin met with the management of the veterans’ memorial organization Yad Labanim, which represents Israel’s bereaved families. At the meeting, he told the families, “I am your soldier. Every year we pray that the circle of bereavement will not grow, and this year, like every year, my heart broke as I met the dozens of families that joined the circle after all.”
He added, “these are the sons and daughters of all of us that were taken, but you have paid the dearest price.”
Yad Labanim Chairman Eli Ben Shem thanked Rivlin for hosting the group, and for everything Rivlin and his wife do for bereaved families throughout the year.
At the same meeting, Aryeh Muallem, head of the Defense Ministry’s Families and Commemoration Department, said, “The stronger the pain becomes, the more we are required to remember. Giving is like a wheel. You, the people of Yad Labanim, are the embodiment of the phrase, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’ I have no doubt that you will be rewarded for everything you have done over the years.”
