The Ministry of Defense and Yad Labanim held the main ceremony opening the Memorial Day events for the fallen of Israel's armed forces and victims of hostilities in the capital on Monday afternoon at the Yad Labanim building in Jerusalem - in the presence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, and Mayor Moshe Leon.
Netanyahu shared his personal feelings as a member of the bereaved family: "The wound is deeper than time. Time passes but does not forget the moment of the bitterest news - that our loved ones are no longer alive. This is how you felt - in every home and family. This is how we - my parents, me and my younger brother Ido - felt when my brother Yoni, the late, fell 50 years ago, in the operation to free our hostages in Entebbe.
""The longing is present every day, the hands want to hug again. The eyes - to see the smile. The ears - to hear the voice, the voice of our loved one.".
He added: "Remembrance Day is steeped in heavy sorrow, and at the same time it is an anchor of unity. The people remember, the people salute, the people acknowledge deep gratitude to the sons and daughters, thanks to whom our existence is guaranteed - as the prophet Isaiah said: 'For a people in Zion will dwell in Jerusalem, weeping for her, you will not weep.'".
The Prime Minister told the story of Heli Wolfstel, who lost her son Ariel: "A bereaved mother, Heli Wolfstel, joined a trip to Poland of 'Witnesses in Uniform' with IDF company commanders at the beginning of this year. She collected a handful of stones from the cemetery in Kfar Etzion. She took them with her to Treblinka, to Birkenau. Heli and IDF officers placed the stones from the Land of Israel on the graves of the soldiers during the Holocaust.".
Referring to Heli's message, Netanyahu linked the Holocaust to the current threat: "Heli Wolfsthal sharpened the message. She said: 'My family and I paid the price of rebirth - and our hearts were torn... This journey showed me what would have happened if we had not had the Israel Defense Forces. Instead of complete helplessness - today we have the strength and the spirit to fight back against our enemies.' This is what she says, and this is what I say - Iran, like every generation, rose up against us to destroy us. It planned to destroy us with atomic bombs. And if we had not acted, the names: Natanz, and Fordow and Isfahan, these death sites, would have joined the names of the death camps: Auschwitz, Birkenau and Treblinka. But we acted and crushed the murder plot.
""Your Excellencies, this is exactly the difference between the terrible reality of our life in exile, and the life of rebirth on the land of Israel. In contrast to the not-so-distant past, today we have a home and we must guard it with all our might. The 25,648 fallen soldiers of the Israeli army - joined by those who fell in recent days on the Lebanese front, Barak Kalfon and Lidor Porat - are the foundation of our independence... Alongside them, we remember the thousands of victims of hostilities, the fallen soldiers of the civilian home front.".
The Prime Minister added: "For the past two and a half years, we have been in a multi-front war unlike any since the War of Independence. The generation of the War of Rebirth - the current generation of victory - inspires immense astonishment... Since the October 7 attack, the IDF and the security forces have been inflicting blow after blow on those who seek our lives... Our flag is stationed from the depths of the Gaza Strip to the summit of Mount Hermon, and our pilots dominate the skies of the region - as victorious proof of our superiority over the Iranian axis.".
""We have not yet finished the work - but the world already knows our determination to defend ourselves... to defend humanity as well, from barbaric fanaticism. Little Israel, and our great friend the USA, carry the entire Western civilization on their backs.".
""My brothers and sisters, dear families, we are one big family. The shared fate between us crosses camps and sectors. We were privileged to bring home all of our hostages, the living and the dead, all of them from the Gaza Strip. There is no greater mutual guarantee than this.".
Netanyahu quoted Rabbi Doron Peretz's words about his son Daniel and Rani Guili: "They entered the fire without thinking, without asking, just to save lives, because family is family.".
""There are also wounded in the family. We also embrace them in our hearts today. I wish a complete recovery to all those wounded in body and soul." He cited as an example the story of Major Rabbi Liraz Zeira: "He says: 'They took my legs, and brought me wings in their place.' These are wings of heroism, wings of spirit, wings of victory!
""My dear honorable brothers and sisters, let us bow our heads in memory of all the fallen soldiers of Israel and victims of hostilities. May their memory be blessed for generations to come.".
