8 | MAY 23 • 2024
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PURELY COMMENTARY
President of Israel’s address
Herzog: ‘A Yom HaZikaron Like No Other’
Editor’s note: Following are
excerpts from President Isaac
Herzog speech on the evening
of May 12 at the Western Wall
on the Memorial Day for the
Fallen of Israel’s Wars and
Victims of Terrorism. The com-
plete text can be read via JNS
at tinyurl.com/56b5mfsw.
E
very year, after the
sounding of the shofar,
there reigns here in the
expanse of the Western Wall
Plaza a sacred, special silence,
preserved only
for this moment
of the year. But
tonight, we
have no peace,
and there is no
silence. Because
this year is not
like any other
year.
This year, in addition to
the mourning siren that com-
memorates our fallen since
the beginning of our struggle,
a new, prolonged, continu-
ous siren has been added. A
siren that began at 6:29 in the
morning of the terrible nation-
al disaster on Oct. 7, at the
height of the joyous holiday
of Simchat Torah. And it has
continued alongside us ever
since. A cry, sharp, piercing.
The cry of a nation, the cry of
national mourning. “My God,
my God, my soul laments, cry
out Daughter of Israel, eulo-
gize and weep bitterly. Israel
has been devoured by fire.”
I stand here, next to the
remnants of our Temple, in
torn garments. This tearing —
a symbol of Jewish mourning,
it is a symbol of the mourning
and sorrow of an entire peo-
ple in this year — a year of
national mourning. A symbol
of a blood-drenched rend in
the heart of the people. A tear
in the heart of the State of
Israel — shattered, bereaved,
crying bitter tears, refusing
to be comforted for its sons
and daughters — soldiers and
civilians.
Our voices do not refrain
from weeping, and our eyes
from shedding tears. A great
tragedy has befallen us.
I turn from here, in this
holy moment, to our brothers
and sisters held hostage and
to their families: Throughout
these national days, we never
forget that there is no greater
commandment than redeem-
ing captives. The entire nation
is with you. We must summon
courage and choose life. Not to
rest and not to be quiet until
they all return home.
Beloved and dear families,
those wounded in Israel’s
battles against its enemies,
the defense minister, the chief
of IDF staff and the heads of
the security forces, ministers
and Knesset members, former
president of Israel, rabbis,
mayor of Jerusalem, ambassa-
dors and diplomats, heads of
the representative organiza-
tions of the bereaved families,
citizens of Israel:
A year ago, I spoke here
about Section 9 of Area A in
the Mount Herzl National
Cemetery — the section
of fallen from the War of
Independence. Since then,
between last Memorial Day
and this Memorial Day, the
graves on the mountain have
increased — 130 new graves;
and hundreds more graves
have been added throughout
the country — changing its
face. Our face. The pain strikes
with force. Just a few hours
ago, we brought five of our
beloved to their eternal rest.
“From Dan to Beersheva, from
Gilgal to the sea, no spot of
our land has been atoned for
without blood.”
A few nights ago, I ascended
once again to Mount Herzl. I
found myself walking among
the graves, in grateful recog-
nition and sacred awe. I felt
with unusual intensity the
intergenerational connection
among the resting places. A
connection of longing and
heroism, of pain and resil-
ience. A connection of a fight-
ing spirit — “from generation
to generation.”
A connection between the
fallen of the Yom Kippur War,
in Lebanon and Metula, on
Ammunition Hill, in Sinai
and the Golan Heights, in
Beaufort, in Bint Jbeil, in the
many battlefields, in intelli-
gence and combat operations,
and in the victims of terror
since the dawn of Zionism,
and from there to the new and
numerous graves on Mount
Herzl — which have been
added to and unfortunately
continue to be added to, in
sections, yes, many sections —
of this heavy, heavy campaign.
Believe me, my sisters and
brothers, I would — with all
my heart — like to tell about
each and every one of our
fallen loved ones — from all of
Israel’s wars, from all the secu-
rity forces, from all over the
country. About their goodness,
their beauty, their bravery. But
the fracture is so great, and
our losses are too many, too
many indeed.
And so, I stand here, in my
mind’s eye what a grieving
father said to me a few weeks
ago: “I hear they’re talking
President
Isaac Herzog
Bereaved families mark Memorial Day at the graves of fallen Israeli
soldiers at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, May 13, 2022.
CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90/JNS