Olmert: Israel owes fallen a debt of honor

A two-minute siren wailed throughout Israel's towns and cities at 11 am on Wednesday as all paused to remember the country's 22,437 fallen.

Immediately following the nationwide moment of contemplative silence, the main ceremony commenced at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, with the country's dignitaries and bereaved families in attendance, including President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak represented the government at the IDF's main service. Memorial ceremonies were also being held in the country's 43 military cemeteries.

Speaking to the audience assembled at Mount Herzl, Olmert said the country "owes a debt of honor to those who have fallen."

Israelis in Tel Aviv stand as memorial siren is sounded (Photo: Yaron Brenner) 

The prime minister also spoke of the significance of the tradition: "On this unique day all barriers collapse. The sense of unity and togetherness is more powerful than any other event. Remembrance Day for Israel's fallen is a disheartening day, but it is untainted with disagreement.

"There are none in Israel who do not know the price of war, none who will not be paying respects to a family member or friend or colleague. We owe a debt of honor to those who have fallen," said Olmert.

"The nation's honor and gratitude for the valor and sacrifices your loved one's made to defend the people and the country is without limit. Our existence as a nation and the security of Israeli citizens depends on

our ability to defend ourselves, to fight for our just positions and vital interests and strike back against those who attack us."

Olmert also spoke of the complex peace process: "Indeed, our war is long. Israel's 60 years and the years preceding it are represented here among the marble slabs. But our hearts desire peace, not war.

"Our political acts and willingness to compromise is essential because it is also the decree of the fallen and the decree of pain and grief that resides in the hearts of the bereaved. But the fallen also command us to live, and we will defend Israel with courage, and without hesitation."

Peres: Ready to pay price for peace

President Shimon Peres spoke at the national ceremony held Tuesday evening at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. 

In his address, Peres said that "we are ready to pay for the day of peace, for smiling children, be they

Palestinian, Jordanian, Egyptian, or Syrian."

"We dream of peace, without accepting dictates of surrender. We desire a handshake, but our enemies know we can pull the trigger in defense. We want to end the wars and continue the Zionist movement's vision, but our enemies realize that, if cornered, that vision will be carried upon the points of our bayonets, until peace comes."

Speaking at the state memorial for the 1,634 civilians killed in terror attacks since Israel's inception, Olmert said, "As we remember our civilians killed in terror attacks, I cannot not think about the sights of horror of the terror attacks I witnessed in Jerusalem. I cannot not think about the depth of the moral abyss between our values and the values of our enemies.

"We do not deny the right of any people and state to live in peace. We only fight to defend ourselves and thwart attacks on us. We exert every effort possible to reduce the harm caused to innocents."

22 civilians killed in past 18 months

Olmert added, "We do not go out to the streets handing out candy and rejoicing as our enemies fall. We have no jihads or shahids and we have no mothers who happily send their sons to wear explosive belts and blow themselves up in a bus packed with passengers, in a crowded shopping mall or among innocent families.

"Therefore, Israel's stance, which has gained international recognition, is justified. To prevent the legitimacy of an organization responsible for the intentional murder of innocent civilians and to condition any talks with it in a complete renouncement of terror."

Addressing a solution for a conflict in the Middle East, the prime minister said, "By no means are we talking about an unresolvable conflict, despite all the difficulties. I say with full responsibility that the principles for resolving it are not unreachable.

"There are people among our neighbors and leaders who understand this and with whom we have a serious dialogue. But the axis of terror does everything to inflame hatred and nourish violence."

Eliyahu Katab, who lost his daughter Meital in a terror attack on a Haifa bus in 2003, said during the ceremony that "every day and every moment is a difficult one for the bereaved families. Our loved ones were murdered by villains only because we have a Jewish name. The worst is that these abominable murderers are aided by people living among us.

"Every family from the bereaved families must rise and rehabilitate itself. God willing, peace will reside in our country and among us."

According to National Insurance figures released ahead of Remembrance Day, more than 14,000 people have been hurt in terror attacks since the State's inception. Seven civilians were killed in 2007 and 133 were injured, most of them Sderot residents. Fifteen Israelis were killed and 65 were injured in the first four months of 2008.