Major General (res.) And Knesset Speaker Benny Gantz in a special column: "We will use the tools at our disposal to keep this holy day even without ceremonies and without going to graves."
Benny Gantz at the grave of his friend Nahum (Omi) Goldberg on Mount Herzl, yesterday // Photo: Elad Malka
Israel counts 23,816 spaces today. This is the most personal national day. In tens of thousands of homes in Israel, families relate to their loved ones, and IDF soldiers and commanders, past and present, salute their fallen brothers.
On this day, we also return to the foundations of our existence, to the Zionism on whose behalf we founded the state, and whose sanctification many fell during and before the War of Independence. When we remember the first dead of the country, we understand what would have happened if there had not been a state for the Jews, had there not been a relatively small group of pioneers fighting for our right here, a few years after the horrors of the Holocaust.
Pennants were placed on space graves in the military cemeteries // Photo: Newsenders
The existence of the State of Israel has been guaranteed and guaranteed by its power, and by our willingness to fight. On the battlefield, in the technological and logistical system, on the front and in the rear - the IDF soldiers and all the security forces are guarding the State of Israel, in which we maintain a Jewish and democratic state. Without being stronger than our enemies, we will not survive.
On Memorial Day we dedicate the strength of Israeli society. The one who continues to send her sons to fight at the front. If we do not maintain the mutual guarantee and do not know how to live with each other, we will not be strong enough to survive. When I decided to enter politics, I called the party headed "Resilience for Israel." Alongside our tanks and planes, Remembrance Day is a reminder that our inner strength is measured by education, democracy protection, tolerance for others and the love of our homeland.
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These are equally important to Israel's security. This Memorial Day in the shadow of the Corona is one of the most difficult experiences we have experienced as a nation. For Zionism, for the strong state of Israel, and especially for the cohesion of Israeli society, we will use our tools to preserve this holy day without ceremonies and without going to graves.
I will hold a chat with families with whom I meet every year as part of an important project initiated by Eliasaf Peretz, brother of Uriel and Eliezer Zachary for blessing, and I will make contact with many more families. I urge you too - find the way to keep this commandment. Call, send a Wetsap message, meet outside the balconies and gardens according to the procedures. Do everything so that bereaved families do not give up on their own.
This Memorial Day is a test time for Israeli society. Strengthen and preserve the legacy of the fallen. This time too, the unity of Israeli society will prevail. With the help and mobilization of all of us.
May the memory of the fallen be blessed.
Brought to print: Daniel Roth-Avnery