Israel prepares to remember its fallen soldiers, terror victims
Israelis will stand in silence as a one-minute siren wails across the country at 8pm in memory of some 23,741 fallen IDF stroops and 3,150 civilians killed in terror attacks - 4 of whom have died this week alone from rockets fired from Gaza
In the next 24 hours, Israel will unite in honoring the memory of 23,741 Israel Defense Forces soldiers who were killed since 1880 - the year in which Jews first moved to pre-state Palestine - and some 3,150 civilians killed in terror attacks since the establishment of the state. Four of those have been killed this week alone in the latest deadly round of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hamas.
An annual memorial service will be held at Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem at 4pm on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Chairman of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, participating in the ceremony.
At 8pm Israelis will observe a one-minute silence amid the wailing sirens, which will also mark the start of the main Memorial Day event, held at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. President Reuven Rivlin and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi are expected to participate at the event.
In Tel Aviv, the annual "Songs in the Square" ceremony will take place at the city’s main Rabin Square at 8:30pm. It will be attended by Mayor Ron Huldai and many Israeli singers and celebrities.
At 9:15pm, a special memorial event is expected to take place in the Knesset, called “Songs in Their Memory", attended by both President Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
On Wednesday, a two-minute siren will be heard across the country at 11am, followed by the main memorial service honoring the fallen IDF soldiers on Mount Herzl in the capital. President Rivlin, Prime Minister Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Kochavi are all expected to attend the event.
The central memorial service for the victims of terror attacks will be held immediately afterwards at 1pm.
