Israel Marks Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Terror Victims

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM – Israel began to mark Yom Hazikaron, its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, on Tuesday evening.

Sirens sounded around the country and people stood silently for one minute at 8 p.m.

Fifty-six soldiers have died during their military service since the last Memorial Day. Another 84 disabled veterans died due to complications from injuries sustained during their service.

The numbers brought the total of those who have died during service to the country since 1860 to 24,068.

Thirty-three names were also added to the list of terror victims who perished in attacks in the past year, Hy’d. Another four disabled victims died due to complications from serious injuries they sustained in attacks, bringing the total to 3,199 since the state of Israel was established in 1948.

Counting from the “early days of Zionism” in 1851, the total number of terror victims stands at 4,216, according to Israel’s National Insurance Institute.

President Isaac Herzog called for unity in a speech to the nation:

“Our sons and daughters, who fell in defense of our state, fought together and fell together. They did not ask, nor did anyone ask them, who was right-wing and who was left-wing. Who was religious. Who was secular. Who was Jewish and who was not Jewish,” he said.

“They fell as Israelis, defending Israel. In cemeteries, arguments fall silent. Between the headstones, not a sound. A silence that demands that we fulfill, together, their single dying wish: the resurrection of Israel. The building of Israel. United, consolidated, responsible for each other. For we are all sisters and brothers,” he said.