The State of Israel marked its traditional Memorial Day on Sunday evening with 620 soldiers added to the rolls of those who have fallen in battle since the state’s independence in 1948.
Memorial Day is taken very seriously in Israel, a small society where almost everyone knows, or is related to, someone who fell in battle over the decades.
Sunday evening’s ceremonies were particularly poignant, as the country mourned the soldiers lost during battles on October 7, and those who have fallen since in the fight against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah on the northern border.
Israelis also prayed for the rescue of dozens of hostages, many of whom are soldiers, including female soldiers, who are still being held by Hamas in Gaza in brutal conditions, and whom Hamas has refused to release in recent talks.
Official Memorial Day ceremonies were held at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest site in the Jewish faith:
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told those gathered that he took personal responsibility “for the fact that the IDF failed in its mission to protect the citizens of the State of Israel on October 7.”
He concluded on a note of resolution: “In this war, we are determined to complete the mission, even though we understand the cost.”
At another ceremony nearby, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the sacrifices of Arab Israelis as well (translation via Government Press Office):
All of our soldiers in this difficult war have an ironclad commitment to our country: Jews, Druze, Christians, Muslims, Bedouin and Circassian.
A few months ago, I paid a condolence visit to the Abu Latif family in Rahat. I embraced the family members of the Bedouin soldier Ahmad Abu Latif who fell in battle. I told them that I understand what they are experiencing. Like them, my parents suffered greatly when my brother was killed. Tewfik, Ahmad’s father, told me that his son would say: ‘I am proud to be a Bedouin who serves in the IDF.’
When Ahmad joined his army unit on October 7th, he said that he would not return home until the last of the hostages was back at home. Ahmad did not get to see that mission completed. We have achieved about half, but we are committed to complete this sacred task.
A month before the visit in Rahat, I visited the Bedouin reconnaissance battalion. One of the Bedouin officers described the horrors he witnessed on October 7th on his way to Gaza. He rushed to join his unit, and on the way he saw a woman who had been murdered. I will not detail what he saw, but he said to me: “It is that abomination that we are fighting.” And he stressed we. We all fight together. Because it is the only way to defeat the Hamas monsters, who want to annihilate us all.
President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute (translation via Government Press Office):
If I could stand here tonight and tell the story of each and every one of our fallen, this year, and over the years, I would. And reluctantly, in pain, I would speak of their portion. Because behind every story, and every candle, burn immense flames of heroism, strength, life, and many more.
Citizens of Israel, at this sacred moment, I remind us and the entire world: we never wanted nor chose this terrible war. Not this one nor its predecessors. All we wanted was to return to Zion from which we were forcibly expelled, and to renew our freedom there – in a Jewish and democratic state. To build a life here. A future. A hope. We always dreamed of peace and good neighborliness with all the peoples and countries in the region, and no less than that forever. But as long as our enemies seek to destroy us, we will not lay down our sword.
The past few months have been very painful. But in them, we learned about the strength of a wonderful and awe-inspiring people, who rose from the terrible destruction and fought as lions. We discovered fighters – of the IDF and the security forces, aged 18 to 96; in all branches, on all fronts – in the south, in the north, in Judea and Samaria, and in every place. They, who endanger themselves for us, ask simply at all times – that we remember that we are one people. That we be worthy. Only be worthy.
This tear in the fabric, the bleeding rend that we all feel in our hearts this year, cannot remain meaningless. The bereaved families tell me this again and again. The tear in the heart of the people must heal the tear in the nation. This rend is also a call and a cry. A call to action, a call to rise up. Rise up as one people.
…
People of Israel, my sisters and brothers. Even today, deeply within the national mourning, I know, I believe with all my heart: a new dawn will rise over all of Israel. By their merit, for their sake, and for ours. May the memory of the fallen of the Israel Defense Forces and victims of enemy hostility against us, be preserved in the heart of our nation for generations to come.
Memorial Day is followed by Israeli Independence Day, which will be observed on Monday evening through Tuesday.
Several Biden administration officials marked Memorial Day by reaching out to Israelis’ or to their counterparts, perhaps acknowledging the damage that was done by President Joe Biden’s public decision to withhold arms from Israel over the battle in Rafah — a battle that Israelis overwhelmingly believe they must wage to win the war.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.