Israel observes Memorial Day with siren, ceremonies
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel remembered its more than 25,000 fallen soldiers and terror victims with the sounding of a siren and memorial ceremonies. Yom Hazikaron, or Memorial Day, began in Israel on Sunday night with the two-minute sounding of the siren.
Latkes and hot dogs will be on the menu for tonight's Yom Ha'aztmaut program at the JCC. (Photo by Alan Smason)
Locally, the Jewish Community Center is hosting a joint community Yom Hazakiron-Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) celebration beginning this evening at 5:30 p.m. at the Uptown JCC, 5342 St. Charles Avenue. The troupe of traveling Tzofim (Israeli Scouts) will sing and dance for the entertainment of the crowd there. The event will feature free Israeli food and is open to the public at no charge.
“We will not forget even for a moment and will always remember those for whom the survival of Israel and its glory are indebted,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said in an address to bereaved families Sunday night at the national ceremony held at the Western Wall. “Those who over the 65 years of the state’s existence protected her with their bodies, their blood and their lives, defended her borders and the security of her citizens, her independence and her freedom. Israel is as dear to us as the bravery of her fighters, and as dear as the depth of the sorrow for each fallen soldier.”
Peres praised the courage and spirit of Israeli soldiers and their commanders.
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz also addressed the bereaved families.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the opening of the weekly Cabinet meeting said Sunday, “We are here thanks to Israel’s fighters who joined the struggle for our existence, thanks to those who survived the wars and thanks to those who fell. We do not forget, even for a second, that we are here thanks to the fallen.”
On Saturday night, Netanyahu visited the grave of his brother, Yonatan, who died in 1976 during the rescue of kidnapped Israelis in Entebbe, Uganda.
Some 92 names were added to the list of Israel’s fallen this year.
According to the Ministry of Defense, there are 17,553 bereaved families of security personnel in Israel, 2,324 orphans, and 4,964 widows of the Israel Defense Forces and the defense establishment.
Another two-minute siren will wail on Monday, followed by a state memorial ceremony on Mount Herzl in memory of Israeli police officers who fell in the line of duty.
More than 1.5 million Israelis will visit military cemeteries throughout Yom Hazikaron. The end of Yom Hazikaron on Monday night marks the start of Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day.
Also Sunday, in advance of Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released its annual population report, which found that Israel’s population hit 8 million for the first time. It represents an increase of 1.8 percent, or 137,000 people, over last year.
