Israelis commemorate the 24,213 fallen soldiers and 4,255 victims of terrorism
Bereaved families and political leaders headed to cemeteries across the country on Tuesday morning as Israel marks Memorial Day.
Israelis commemorate the 24,213 fallen soldiers and 4,255 victims of terrorism. Memorial Day began on Monday evening with a one-minute siren. A second two-minute siren will sound at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, marking the beginning of mourning ceremonies at 52 cemeteries across the county.At 8:30 a.m. a military ceremony began at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem attended by Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Director-General Eyal Zamir. The names of the fallen soldiers will be read at the site throughout the day. Another ceremony at Mount Herzl will start at 1 p.m to commemorate civilian victims of terrorist attacks
.Earlier on Tuesday morning, speaking to army radio, Gallant praised the bereaved families but criticized their calls for government officials not to attend the ceremonies amid the judicial reform turmoil.
“A reality where we decide to banish public representatives, for one reason or another, because politics have entered this sacred place, is unbearable,” the minister said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called for unity in a video address to the bereaved families. He noted that Memorial Day “gives us all an important reminder that Israel's independence is not taken for granted.”“On this holy day we remember the sacrifice of the fallen, the terrible pain of the families, and no less than that - our being one people," he said.
The head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency Ronan Bar spoke at the Memorial Day ceremony at the Shin Bet headquarters, noting that it takes place amid "very difficult disputes at home, the development of new threats from the outside, a sense of the convergence of arenas and the overcoming of challenges."
"And it requires us to be alert, to take initiative, to attack and to excel. In the service, the translation of the phrase 'in their death they ordered us to live' is 'in their death they passed the shift to us'," he saidNetanyahu along with President Isaac Herzog, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and Supreme Court President Esther Hayut will attend the main ceremony at Mount Herzl, which will be accompanied by an Air Force flyby. However, many ministers and lawmakers canceled their planned appearances, due to some bereaved families urging them to stay away from the cemeteries fearing political confrontations.
'The wounded, who is about 80 years old, is in a serious and unstable condition. Anesthetized and ventilated in the intensive care unit'
One of the victims of yesterday’s terrorist attack in Jerusalem remains in serious and unstable condition, Shaare Zedek hospital said on Tuesday.
On Monday afternoon a Palestinian rammed a car into a group of pedestrians next to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market, wounding six people. Four of them were wounded lightly or suffered from anxiety while an elderly man and a woman in her 30s sustained more serious injuries“The wounded woman, about 30 years old, is in a moderately stable condition,” the doctors added.
The terrorist was identified as 39-year-old Khatem Najma, a father of five from the Beit Safafa neighborhood. He was shot and neutralized by Israeli forces.
The attack took place on Israel’s Memorial Day when the country commemorates fallen soldiers and victims of terror. Speaking at a memorial ceremony in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “this terrorist attack, in this place, at this time, reminds us that the Land of Israel and the State of Israel are acquired through many trials and tribulations."
7 weeks after elections and minutes before deadline, Likud head tells president he’s mustered a majority; he has yet to finalize coalition deals with any of his partners
Benjamin Netanyahu informed President Isaac Herzog late on Wednesday that he has come to agreements with his coalition partners to form Israel’s 37th government, delivering a promise of right-wing and religious-led political stability seven weeks after the country’s fifth election since 2019 and minutes before the expiration of his mandate to form the next government. The Likud leader has yet to finalize coalition agreements with any of his party’s intended partners, however.
In line with Israeli law, Netanyahu must now inform Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, who will announce the development during Monday’s legislative session. After that, Netanyahu will have seven days to swear in his government. Some Likud party sources say this is likely to happen before the January 2 deadline.
The negotiations between Netanyahu and his far-right and ultra-Orthodox partners came down to the wire, with the Otzma Yehudit party saying an hour before the deadline it was still locked in negotiations with Netanyahu’s Likud and it “wasn’t clear” if the two sides would reach an agreement. Even after the deadline, however, full coalition agreements had yet to be signed between Likud and any of its partners.
Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu informs President Isaac Herzog that he has managed to form a government, in a phone call shortly before a midnight deadline, December 21, 2022 (Likud spokesperson)
