- Israel observes Memorial Day for its slain troops this year.
- On Monday evening, the solemnity is suddenly broken up by the celebration of Independence Day.
- At the nationwide Memorial Day services held at military cemeteries, the simmering resentment is sure to explode.
Itay, the son of Ruby Chen, was killed on October 7th in a strike by Hamas, but his remains are being held captive in Gaza. Israel observes Memorial Day for its slain troops this year, with family members filling cemeteries to bemoan the deaths of their loved ones.
On this Memorial Day for slain soldiers in Israel, when cemeteries are full of relatives lamenting the graves of their loved ones, the absence of a final resting place is felt all too keenly.
Memorial Day
Political and military authorities are being held accountable by the families of the deceased as well as by large sections of the public for their mistakes that resulted in hundreds of deaths in the bloodiest attack in the nation’s history.
Chen thinks the “people who made the misjudgment need to pay, from the prime minister down.” On Monday evening, the solemnity is suddenly broken up by the celebration of Independence Day.
The two-day meeting is necessary because it will be difficult to balance the cost of Israel’s conflicts with the state’s founding and survival amid heightened insecurity and continuing hostilities.
Since Hamas’s unexpected attack on October 7, when thousands of terrorists ransacked southern Israeli military sites and quiet neighborhoods on a Jewish holiday, more than 600 Israeli troops have died. Israel’s confidence in the armed forces, which compel the majority of Jewish 18-year-olds to enroll, was destroyed by the attack.
Apart from the military’s crisis of confidence, the attack destroyed Israelis’ confidence in their government and in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose popularity fell. Every week, thousands of people participate in demonstrations calling for an early election to install a new government.
At the nationwide Memorial Day services held at military cemeteries, the simmering resentment is sure to explode. Fearing a recurrence of last year’s celebrations, where participants yelled at MPs who supported a disputed government plan to revamp the judiciary, several families have urged that the ministers not attend.
