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Photo: Avihu Shapira
Funeral for Sgt. Shahar Shalev
Photo: Avihu Shapira

Defense Ministry to hold state memorial service for fallen Protective Edge soldiers

Ceremony to take place next month, marking one year since the Gaza operation; decision made after bereaved families turned to defense minister, IDF chief demanding commemoration.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Thursday accepted the recommendation of the Public Council for Commemorating Soldiers to hold an annual ceremony in memory of the 67 fallen IDF soldiers who died during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

 

 

Bereaved families turned to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot earlier this week, expressing concern there will be no commemoration of their sons.

 

Funeral for Sgt. Shahar Shalev (Photo: Avihu Shapira)
Funeral for Sgt. Shahar Shalev (Photo: Avihu Shapira)

  

Now that the decision has been made to hold a ceremony, parents said they expected the prime minister and the president to attend the memorial to show their respect to the fallen soldiers.

 

The families also demanded a monument to be built for their sons on the Gaza border, and the Public Council for Commemorating Soldiers will hold deliberations on that soon.

 

Yad Labanim director Eli Ben-Shem welcomed the council's decision, "Since both the state and the army recognized Protective Edge as a military campaign, an official memorial ceremony will be held on Mount Herzl, just like any of Israel's other campaigns."

 

Ben-Shem said the first memorial service will take place next month, marking one year since the operation, but an official date has not been set yet.

 

"We welcome the council's decision," Ben-Shem added. "There is no difference between Protective Edge and the Second Lebanon War or the Kadesh Operation - campaigns that get a state memorial service every year."

 

Ilan Sagi, whose son Sgt. Erez Sagi was killed in Protective Edge, said, "We're glad of the council's decision. This honors the memory of our sons. We still think a monument needs to be erected on the Gaza Strip border. We shouldn't be fighting these fights, we are already dealing every day with living our daily lives in the shadow of the sorrow and pain of losing our children. Those who did not experience this trauma could not understand us."

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.11.15, 09:25
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