Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will fight on to victory. The prime minister gave a videotaped speech during a prerecorded ceremony in Jerusalem, marking the beginning of Israel's 76th Independence Day. "This is not an ordinary Independence Day. The war is still being fought, many of our brothers and sisters are still being held in the dungeons of Hamas, their families suffering terribly. We will bring all of them home, those who are dead and those who are alive," he said.
Netanyahu went on to say that he was told by families of the fallen and wounded that their sacrifice would not be in vein. "carry on to the end, they tell me, and that is what we will do, I promise."
Since October 7, 620 members of the IDF have been killed 270 of them since the ground offensive on Gaza began and 1,674 were wounded.
The decision to prerecord the ceremony and hold it without public participation was attributed to security reasons by its organizer, Netanyahu ally and Transportation Minister Miri Regev but was heavily criticized for an effort to avoid a display of anger from families of hostages and opponents of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition.
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Head of medical aid NGO Yossi Erblich lights Independence Day torch with Anat Ben Dor, Galya Tsuberi, Dr. Dikla and Dr. Eran Shwartzfux
Ministers who attended and spoke at memorial services for the fallen, held in military cemeteries around the country for Memorial Day, met with shouts for their joint responsibility in the failures on October 7 and since, including the failure to secure the release of the 132 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Although Regev denied her motive was to avoid expressions of opposition, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said in the ceremony that the internal rift was the reason that an audience was not invited to attend. "To be worthy of the fallen we must be one people, united," he said. "We will have to shout less and listen more, including to our political rivals."
The speeches were followed by a torch lighting ceremony honoring security forces, first responders, medical teams and others who participated in the defense of the country in the massacre and since or have otherwise contributed to the war effort and to the fight for Israel's reputation abroad.
At the same time, an alternative ceremony, organized by families of hostages, members of bereaved families, Israelis displaced from their homes in the north and in the south and survivors of the massacre. Other than lighting torches, they chose to put them in protest of the government's decision to hold the national event, protected from the public.
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Marchers form the number 132 for the hostages captive in Gaza during an alternative ceremony protesting the government
They highlighted the failure of the government to protect the victims during the Hamas atrocities and its failure after the tragic event, to care for the victims, provide for their security and needs, a task that was taken on by civilian organizations who stepped up to the task on October 7, including to rescue people from areas invaded by the terrorists, provide them with shelter, food and supplies in the initial period, and later provide them with community services even after the government ministries began responding to the crisis.