Netanyahu on Memorial Day: “Israel Is the Realization of Generations’ Dream”

Netanyahu on Memorial Day:
“Israel Is the Realization of Generations’ Dream”
By Ilana Messika May 1, 2017

At formal ceremonies, private gatherings and quiet visits to military cemeteries around the country, more than a million Israelis paused this Monday to remember 23,544 IDF soldiers who died during their military service. Since last Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day), a total of 60 soldiers died and 37 disabled veterans succumbed to their war injuries and were recognized as fallen soldiers.

Israelis also remember 4,128 people who were murdered in terror attacks from the beginning of the Zionist project in the Land of Israel and until the present time. Among those, a total of 100 Israelis were murdered outside of Israel and another 122 were foreign citizens on Israeli soil. A total of 11 citizens died from terror assaults since last year, the latest being Hanna Bladon, a British student who was stabbed to death during an attack in the Jerusalem Light Rail about two weeks ago.
Woman in sorrow while IDF soldier salutes at fallen soldier’s grave at on Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem, May 1, 2017 (Hillel Maeir/TPS)

Story continues below advertisement

At 10 am, Israelis around the country paused for a two-minute memorial siren. President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot addressed more than 1000 bereaved family members at the national cemetery at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem opened the formal observance of Memorial Day at the Western Wall. Knesset Speaker Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, President of the Supreme Court Miriam Naor and Chief Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh were also in attendance.

Speaking at Mount Herzl, Netanyahu said that the sacrifice of the fallen soldiers remained a necessary for preserving the lives of Israelis but also to be able to achieve peace.

[the_ad id=”90673″]

“Our lives continue to depend on the willingness of our sons and daughters to sacrifice themselves, and I know that this sacrifice is a necessary condition not only for our existence but also for achieving peace with our neighbors,” Netanyahu stated.

“I promise that we will not rest until we return Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul home,” added Netanyahu, referring to both fallen soldiers still in the hands of Hamas since 2014 Operation Protective Edge.

“Tonight, when the flag returns to the top of the mast, we will know that the State of Israel is a true consolation, the realization of many generations’ dream, and a model to the nations.”

Pnina Seror, daughter of private Pinchas Seror who fell on November 1956, lit the torch of remembrance at the Mount Herzel Ceremony, prior to reading of the memorial prayer “Yizkor,” the reciting of the mourner’s Kaddish and national anthem “Hatikva.” A total of 13 wreaths were laid by Israel institutions including, “Yad Labanim” honoring the fallen soldiers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Jewish Agency, and Widows and Orphans of the IDF.

The Ministry of Defense numbered 9,157 bereaved parents of fallen IDF soldiers, 4,881 widows of the IDF, and 1,843 orphans below 30 years old. The number of bereaved siblings and orphans of above 30 years old add to thousands more. According to the National Insurance Institute, 939 parents lost a child in terror attacks, 826 people are widowed and a total of 109 lost both parents to terror.

In addition to the central ceremony, more than 50 military cemeteries and hundreds of other sites accommodated many Israelis coming to pay their respects at the graves of the fallen around the country, including Kiryat Shaul and Kfar Saba cemeteries.
IDF soldiers stand at attention before the Yizkor flame on Mt. Herzl, May 1, 2017. (David Michael Cohen/TPS)

“Generation after generation, we are forced again and again to accompany the best of our sons and daughters, young and talented, […] fallen in the prime of their life,” said Defense Minister Liberman at the ceremony in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul.

“This is the terrible and painful price of the Jewish people’s decision to be the master of their own fate, to return to their homeland and to realize their life and culture within as a nation, sovereign and free,” he said.

Liberman added that out of this pain and sorrow grows the determination to guard the existence and well being of the State of Israel, and perseverance to protect its security and values.
Israel Remembers
By Andrew Friedman May 1, 2017

The Memorial Day ceremony begins at the Western Wall, April 30, 2017. (Yissachar Ruas/TPS)

Thousands of Israelis paused Sunday evening to mark the beginning of Memorial Day.

Traffic came to a halt as the traditional memorial siren sounded at 8 pm, restaurants and places of entertainment closed and flags around the country were lowered to half-mast as the country paid tribute to 23,544 men and women who were killed during the War of Independence, the Sinai Campaign, Six Day War, Yom Kippur War, Operation Peace for Galilee and a host of military incursions over the past decade into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Speaking at the Western Wall, President Reuven Rivlin called the holy site a “wall of tears and of hopes” and noted Israel’s return to the Old City 50 years ago, during the Six Day War.

“Fifty years after the liberation of Jerusalem, we remember: our liberty is sacred, both sacred and hard… it is our obligation to care, day and night, to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our citizens, the security of the State of Israel; and secondly, to do all we can to ensure the safety of our soldiers.

“We must be more than prepared. More than exceptional. We must constantly examine ourselves; always standing ready, always make sure that we are one step ahead. We must always be engaged, not just in preventing the next war, but in preventing all the coming wars – using every tool and every channel at our disposal,” Rivlin said.

In addition to the official government ceremony, Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Zeev Elkin, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and a list of Jerusalem cultural personalities including singer Ron Avdan, Shiri Maimon, Yuval Dayan, Hanan Ben-Ari, Yishai Ribbo joined bereaved families met at Hebrew University at Mount Scopus, overlooking the Judean Desert, for a ceremony entitled “Remembering, Singing and Storytelling,”

__________________________________________________________________
Inline image 1

The Truth Must be Told

Your contribution supports independent journalism

Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.

Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.

Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.

Please contribute here.

or

Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.

• $25.00 here
• $50.00 here
• $75.00 here
• $100.00 here
• $250.00 here

0 0 votes

Article Rating

9 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

0349 JAT

6 years ago

As a proud CANADIAN .
I stand with the JEWS and support the country of ISRAEL……

0

Ed Heavner

6 years ago

may they R.I.P. now

0

Dave Mc

6 years ago

Great that Israel honors and remembers it’s fallen in this way.

0

Dennis

6 years ago

When one understands the full nature of what Memorial Day in Israel is, one must recognize that what the State of Israel faces from the unforgiving Islamic world brings home the issue as to why there can never be peace in that area, unless the people who lead Islam can accept the reality that Israel was there to stay, requiring a rejection of the concepts relied upon by the world of Islam that is directed at the destruction of the Jews. Having given a lot of thought to the concept of a two state solution as it involves the obvious combatants that constitute Israel and the Palestinian’s/Gazan’s, as well as those other countries in the Middle East who preach the destruction of Israel, I have come to the conclusion that as things stand now between the parties, the possibility of even discussing such a solution seems impossible. The reality is that the Palestinian’s/Gazan’s and the world of Islam have adopted a firm policy, and have acted violently towards the nation of Israel, and have continuously stated that they intend to totally destroy the state of Israel, and their conduct of paying their people to commit murder, firing missiles, and constantly teaching their youth to hate everything that is Jewish, makes even the attempt to begin negotiations a none starter. A two state solution should only be undertaken when both states can be assured that one would be willing to
live next to, or near, the other state in peace and cooperation. The fact that Islam teaches, promotes and has adopted in it writings, that the Jew’s must be wiped out, pushed into the sea, and destroyed as their constant refrain leaves Israel without any choice but to recognize that a two state solution is not only impossible as conditions exist today, but also that any such negotiation
would be no different that placing in the same cage, a hungry lion with its prey. When Russia attempted to place offensive missiles in Cuba, less than 100 miles from the U.S., we blockaded the Communist ruled Cuba, and the missiles were removed. That action was done because the U.S. saw the conduct of placing missiles in a communist country that had a belief system that intended to
destroy anything and everything American, was, in and of itself, so abhorrent that America was required to totally end that threat, and the blockade resulted in that termination. The same situation is relevant today as it involves the state of Israel and the Islamic people that intend the same result as did the communists (Soviet Union and Cuba). The world leaders have turned a blind eye
to the reality outlined herein. The U.N. is essentially trying to place missiles alongside Israel that would result in Israel’s destruction. These Muslim people, who continue to wrongly claim that the land of Israel is theirs, and who seek the destruction of the citizens of that state, cannot, as they act today, be able to negotiate any resolution, simply because they enter any
discussions with a mind set no different then what America faced that led up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Why, therefore, I ask, would our present leaders here in America consider such negotiations as even possible, as our own history proves the insanity of such a belief? The Arabs need to get over their belief that the land is theirs; they need to get over their overt conduct to kill off
all that is Israel; and, until that happens, no two state conclusion is in the cards, and from my perspective, under present circumstances, Israel must determine what land it needs to create defensible borders, and take that land without further ado. The Arab Palestinian/Gazan population should then be moved to Arab states that must be expected to take their own people as immigrants, while providing safe havens for them. That seems like the only logical answer to the situation that now exists.

0

Mahou Shoujo

6 years ago

Israel triumphed in the past, is triumphant in the present, and will excel in the future. Trivial opposition will blow away in the winds of change, as it always has.

0

JacksonPearson

6 years ago

Reply to  Mahou Shoujo

Tiny Israel’s the only bright light shining in a darkened Middle East.

0

Lynnrreel

6 years ago

Reply to  JacksonPearson

My last paycheck was $22500 for working 12 hours a week online.Start earning $97/hour by working online from your home for few hours each day with GOOGLE… Get regular payments on weekly basis… All you need is a computer, internet connection and a litte free time… Read more here
!wr185c:
➽➽
➽➽➽➽ http://GoogleFinancialCashJobs185TopMobile/GetPaid$97/Hour… ★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫★✫★★✫:::!wr185u:…..

0

Not a Fair Exchange

6 years ago

It doesn’t seem fair that Israelis give their blood and their lives but the Jews in the Diaspora only give their money.

This is not a fair exchange.

0

vercingetorix

6 years ago

Those who bless Israel will be blessed, those who curse her will be cursed!

0