On this Yom HaZikaron, Memorial Day, the differences will be left outside the military cemeteries. This is what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ministers Yoav Galant and Benny Gantz, and opposition leader MK Yair Lapid requested in a joint letter sent to the public ahead of Memorial Day.
The joint letter reads: “On the eve of Remembrance Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel’s wars and the Victims of Acts of Terror in Israel, we turn to you, public representatives and all citizens of Israel out of concern for the sanctity of Remembrance Day and the memory of the fallen, and ask you from the bottom of our hearts to preserve the sanctity of Remembrance Day.”
The four also added that “the last few months have been some of the most difficult that the State of Israel has known since its establishment, 76 years ago. We have lost the best sons and daughters. Many families have joined the circle of bereavement and this is their first day of remembrance. God forbid we add to their pain in these difficult days.”
“The independence of the State of Israel was bought at a heavy price of blood, this year as well. The Remembrance Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel’s wars and the Victims of Acts of Terror in Israel comes to cherish and remember the fallen. The fallen who fought together and fell together and whose death commanded our lives,” they reminded.
At the end, the political leaders turned to the citizens of the country and asked: “For their sake, so that we may be worthy of their heroism, their sacrifice, and their memory, we call on you to leave the disputes outside the military cemeteries and avoid arguments over the graves of the girls and boys. This is our duty, this is our responsibility, and this is how we will act. We will honor the memory of all the girls and boys, together, and preserve the sanctity of the day.”
The letter came due to the initiative of Eli Ben Shem, chairman of the Yad Labanim organization. Ben Shem said: “I thank Prime Minister Netanyahu, Ministers Gantz and Galant, and the leader of the opposition, Knesset member Lapid, for hearing our cry and signing the call to preserve the sanctity of Memorial Day. This year’s Memorial Day is one of the most difficult we have known and the State of Israel has known. We celebrate it in the shadow of 7 long months of war and hundreds of families who joined the circle of bereaved families. We must not violate the sanctity of Memorial Day. All disputes, right and left, must remain outside the cemeteries. For the sake of our sons and daughters, the silver platter on which the state was given to us and so that we would be worthy of their memory and sacrifice.”
Memorial Day comes this year after seven months of war, which unfortunately claimed many lives on the way to victory and the long-awaited revival. Israeli society demonstrated its strength, unity, and the spirit of mutual guarantee already at the beginning of the war. Today, against the background of the disputes that have resurfaced between different voices in the nation, this letter from the state leaders reminds the nation of the covenant of shared destiny that the citizens of the State of Israel celebrate on this day, and the importance – more than ever – of maintaining the unity and sanctity of the day.
