The state memorial ceremony for the fallen of hostilities in Israel and abroad was held at noon (Wednesday) on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ceremony was attended by President Yitzhak Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Chief of Staff Major General Eyal Zamir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister Netanyahu said in his speech, "I embrace every family in grief, just as I embrace each of the wounded. I tell you from the bottom of my heart, we are all always together. We are all part of one great story - the wonderful story of the resurrection of Israel, which unfortunately was bought with pain and blood. Therefore, I say in the name of our loved ones - we will add life, we will build our country, we will defeat our enemies.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\""We will never forget the manifestations of cruelty that shocked us and the entire world. The children of our enemies suckle this poisonous fanaticism with their mother's milk in kindergartens, in textbooks, in religious classes, in incitement sermons, in halakhic rulings that preach our destruction. But we will not allow them to destroy us because our life force is stronger than their power of death and destruction. Those who seek our souls did not believe that Israel would wage such a prolonged struggle on seven fronts. They are the ones who suffer a chain of defeats one after another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\""Those who sought to bring destruction upon us have long understood what destruction they have brought upon themselves. We are seeing more and more demonstrations against the Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip. But I must say frankly, we do not see any explicit condemnation of the barbaric murderousness that has broken records of moral lowness, and we also do not see anyone calling for the release of the kidnapped. We are not giving up on the sacred mission of bringing all of our kidnapped people home, even at these times. We will continue to fight to destroy Hamas and will continue to work in every way to return all of the kidnapped people, both living and dead.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Prime Minister further noted: "In the past year, we have also lost wonderful men and women, Jews and non-Jews. I always try to get to know their personal stories, look at their pictures, hear about the values \u200b\u200bthat guided them in their lives. We have lost educators, we have lost farmers who held on to their land in conflict zones, we have lost citizens who walked peacefully down a city street, waited for a bus at a crossroads, or returned home from a family celebration.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\""The closeness between the fallen in battle in uniform and our citizens without uniform, this closeness continues to be close. We are all standing on the front lines of the war, facing the terrorist branches around us and the unjust terrorists among us. Since the October 7 massacre, a poignant question from a 6-year-old girl from Sderot, Romi Suissa, has resonated with me. Her parents, Dolev and Odia, were shot to death by Hamas terrorists in front of her eyes and the eyes of her little sister in the car they were traveling in. When the IPS officer arrived at the bullet-riddled vehicle, Romi asked in horror, 'Are you from Israel?' The uniformed man replied, 'Yes,' and rescued Romi and her sister next door to safety. This question invites a decisive answer. Yes! We are from Israel! We are Israelis, we do not break. We bite our lips and stand on our feet, we win.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Yitzhak Herzog opened his speech with the story of Avital Ben Porat, who arrived on October 7 with her husband Moshe from their home in Tiberias for their grandson's circumcision in Ofakim. "Moshe intended to be the godfather at his grandson's circumcision, so he hurried out early in the morning to the synagogue," the president said. "As soon as he opened the door to the street, the damned Hamas terrorists, full of hatred and eager for murder, pointed their weapons at him and shot him. He collapsed in the doorway of the house and was killed.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Herzog added: "Avital, who paused for a brief moment inside the house before joining him in his march to the synagogue, heard the screams and the gunshots. She ran to him, and witnessed the terror and horror. In the face of the terrible disaster and the piercing pain, Avital was in a heartbreaking dilemma. And it was there that Avital made a decision. In the heart of the breakup and crisis, in the midst of the immense pain, she was alive. She went out to the synagogue and decided not to tell anyone from the covenant about Moshe's murder. She told the worried family that Moshe had been injured. This decision by Avital is a symbol of uncompromising devotion to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\""My sisters and brothers, this year too, on this holy mountain, the heart skips a beat, as we are surrounded by these stone tablets, bearing the names of your loved ones - our loved ones. In this sacred moment, we promise: Their memory will forever illuminate our path. But we are not only celebrating memory today, but also our eternal covenant. A covenant between a man and his fellow man, and between a people and their country; a covenant that crosses generations, communities and borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\""The bloody covenant of the fallen of hostilities and their families is not only a Gilead, but a shining beacon, calling for a covenant of life. Let us not forget: Our enemies do not distinguish between the blood of soldiers and civilians. Between the blood of the elderly and children, women and men. They have made a covenant of hatred, of terror, of death. But in the face of our enemies we stand in a covenant of life, of faith and of hope. A covenant of ours, of all of us, of every faith, outlook and way of life.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The President added: "This Israeli alliance falls on the shoulders of all of us in every possible sense. It obliges us to strengthen the bridges within us, to lower the walls and flames of internal conflict, and not give our enemies the gift of internal hatred. It obliges us to strengthen the security of Israeli citizens, and to fight anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel throughout the world. The Israeli alliance obliges us to act in every way and with all our strength to return the kidnapped people home, to the last one of them.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\""It is important to emphasize clearly and distinctly: We do not forget. An entire nation embraces you today, beloved and precious families, remembers with you, loves with you, and answers you, with a broken voice but with an upright body: 'In your blood I live.' May the memory of the fallen of the hostilities be tender, and engraved on the hearts of the people for generations to come.".<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u05d1\u05d8\u05e7\u05e1 \u05d4\u05d0\u05d6\u05db\u05e8\u05d4 \u05d4\u05de\u05de\u05dc\u05db\u05ea\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d7\u05dc\u05dc\u05d9 \u05e4\u05e2\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05ea \u05d0\u05d9\u05d1\u05d4, \u05e7\u05e8\u05d0 \u05d4\u05e0\u05e9\u05d9\u05d0 \u05d4\u05e8\u05e6\u05d5\u05d2 \u05dc\u05d0\u05d7\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea \u05dc","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":978575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-978572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n