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Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg
The National Memorial Hall
Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

Netanyahu: Our fallen soldiers remind us who we are

New National Memorial Hall dedicated at Mount Herzl in first event of Memorial Day; 'The secret to Israeli remembrance is continuity,' says President Rivlin, who affixed a mezuzah at the site; Lieberman says grief over fallen soldiers 'reminds us of the magnitude of our responsibility to guard and protect the State of Israel.'

Events marking Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism began on Sunday morning with the inauguration of a new memorial hall in Jerusalem.

 

 

The inauguration ceremony was attended by President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Ministry Avigdor Lieberman, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and other heads of the defense establishment.

 

"The secret to Israeli remembrance is continuity," Rivlin said during the dedication ceremony. "It's a memory that goes from the past to the present and the future. The Jewish and Israeli memory stitches together and connects the past, present and future, and gives us strength as individuals, as a state and as a people."

  

Rivlin at the dedication ceremony
Rivlin at the dedication ceremony
 
The president went on to say that "in this Memorial Hall we promise to treasure the past, but with the same determination and persistence, love and hope, we also promise to treasure and create a future."
 
The hall, he said, "combines the individual's memory with that of the nation ... there is no other country that succeeded in connecting and weaving in such an accurate and careful manner the personal private grief and the national one."
 
As Israel prepares to mark 50 years since the Six Day War, Rivlin promised parents that the nation will remember the fallen of that war even after their parents have passed away. "We promise that the memory of our beloved and heroic sons and daughters will be treasured in our hearts, in the hearts of the nation, from one generation to the next."
 
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the National Memorial Hall "today becomes one of the symbols of the State of Israel. This structure has been established on dedication to the people and the land. Its walls are made of the might of the land, its dome made of bravery and sacrifice. And among all of these, there is concrete to connects the memories."

 

Netanyahu at the dedication ceremony
Netanyahu at the dedication ceremony

 

"The memory of past events is being carried in the backpack of all of our people. We each carry the many generations that came before us, and marching forward with them," he added.

 

"We've waited almost 2,000 years for the renewed appearance of the Hebrew fighter," Netanyahu said. "The torch was lit in Modi'in ... and this torch wasn't put out in the Warsaw Ghetto or the extermination camps. It was passed on to the Jewish underground organizations and to the Jewish Brigade Group, and then to IDF soldiers and to all security services."

 

Rivlin and Netanyahu at the dedication ceremony
Rivlin and Netanyahu at the dedication ceremony

 

The prime minister said the Jews in the Land of Israel, followed by the State of Israel, have "resumed Jewish heroism that appeared to have been cut off throughout the generations. We renewed the legacy of fiercely defending the home and the homeland."

 

Netanyahu also noted that "just as we remember the soldiers who fell in Israel's wars, they remind us who we are, what is our purpose and of our love of the homeland."

 

Netanyahu speaking at the National Memorial Hall (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
Netanyahu speaking at the National Memorial Hall (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

 

Netanyahu's speech was interrupted by a bereaved father in the audience, who called out "even on this holy day I can't forgive the tears of Leah Goldin. Her tears demand immediate response and for you to ask her forgiveness." He then sat back down, allowing the prime minister to continue.

 

A bereaved father interrupting the prime minister's speech (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
A bereaved father interrupting the prime minister's speech (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

 

Defense Minister Lieberman said the National Memorial Hall marks the fact that "We do not have a Tomb for the Unknown Soldier, as we believe that unto every name there is a name given to him by God and by his father and mother."

 

"From the day we returned here, to our old and new homeland, to rebuild our home, we've known not a single day of rest," Lieberman continued. "We've been fighting one long war against those who rise against us and try over and over again to annihilate the Zionist entity, which is holding on and digging its roots into this land."


The National Memorial Hall (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
The National Memorial Hall (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
 

"Every generation we pray our sons and daughters will know no more war, and every generation we are forced to accompany the best of our young sons and daughters on their final journey," he lamented. 

 

The defense minister spoke of grief and pain, noting that "it reminds us of the magnitude of our responsibility to guard and protect the State of Israel."

 

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and IDF Chief Gadi Eisenkot (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and IDF Chief Gadi Eisenkot (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

 

"Now, as they do every day, the IDF's soldiers and the rest of the security forces are working in the air, land and sea to ensure the security of the citizens of Israel. They do so with determination and courage along our borders. They're ready to thwart every threat and get to anyone who plots to harm us," Lieberman said.

 

The National Memorial Hall (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
The National Memorial Hall (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

 

"The IDF is the strongest military in the Middle East... Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and part of the family of nations, but unfortunately it does not get support from the international community at the moment of truth. This has happened in the past and continues to happen," the defense minister accused, listing Hezbollah and Hamas's actions.

 

"That is why Israel still needs to know how to defend itself by itself from all of the threats—separately or together. I still hope that we will see a change in the one-sided treatment the international community gives Israel, particularly in light of recent terror attacks in Europe and the world."

 

Memorial Day events

Since the beginning of the Jewish Yishuv in the Land of Israel in 1860, 23,544 soldiers have died. Over the past year, 97 have joined the ranks of Israel's fallen, among them 60 soldiers and 37 wounded IDF veterans who have passed away as a result of their injuries and have been recognized as IDF fallen.

 

In a letter to IDF soldiers and commanders, IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot wrote that "In their death, the fallen have left us with a legacy and a will—to be the defenders of the people and to hold the sword for its freedom in its land."

 

Photo: AP (Photo: AP)
Photo: AP

 

Eisenkot noted that, "With the legacy of the fallen, we are charged to preserve the values they have adopted in their lives—courage and mental fortitude, responsibility and dedication, a sense of mission and belief in the righteousness of the way. The values that beat in the hearts of the fallen are the secret to the strength of the Israel Defense Force to this very day. The IDF spirit is the common language shared by those who serve."

 

He called on the IDF's soldiers to lend a hand to the bereaved families of the fallen. "In their death, the fallen have charged us with one more thing: to stand by their families and accompany them on the journey of life after loss, a journey that began on the day the light of their life was put out. We must continue to support them throughout the year to ease their pain as much as possible," he wrote.

 

"Today, we will also remember the IDF's missing soldiers and the fallen soldiers whose place of burial is unknown, and we will pray that our children return to their own land."

 

The IDF announced on Saturday that a closure will be imposed on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be closed during Memorial Day and Independence Day, with all border crossings shuttered. The closure will end at midnight on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. During the closure, only humanitarian, medical and exceptional cases will be allowed through.

 

 

At 4pm Sunday, the official opening ceremony for Memorial Day will be held at Yad Lebanim in Jerusalem, with the prime minister, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, and Israel's Chief Rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau in attendance.

 

At 8pm, a one-minute siren will be sounded across the country in memory of the fallen. It will be followed by the main ceremony at the Western Wall Plaza, during which the president and the IDF chief will light candles in memory of the fallen.

 

At 9:15pm, the "Songs in Their Memory" event will be held at the Knesset in Jerusalem, with the president, the prime minister, the Knesset speaker, the defense minister, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and Deputy IDF Chief Yair Golan in attendance.

 

On Monday, Memorial Day, a two-minute siren will be sounded at 11am in memory of the fallen. It will be followed by a state memorial service at the Mount Herzl cemetery, with the president, the prime minister and the IDF chief of staff in attendance. At the same time, a state memorial service will also be held at the Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv, which will be attended by the defense minister.

 

A memorial service for terror victims will be held on Mount Herzl at 1pm.

 

The Memorial Day events will end at 8pm in a torch-light ceremony on Mount Herzl that would also mark the beginning of Independence Day celebrations.

 

Roi Yanovsky, Shachar Hay, Liran Levy, Yoav Zitun, Raanan Ben-Zur, Ahiya Raved, Ilana Curiel contributed to this report.

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.30.17, 09:58
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