Remembrance Day, which begins this year on Tuesday evening, 7 May 2019, is a day of collective and personal anguish mingled with honor for the fallen. The official events begin at 8:00 PM with a moment of national silence heralded by a one-minute siren.
A total of 26,891 men, women and children have been killed in terrorist attacks and in defense of the Land of Israel since 1860, the year that the first Jewish settlers left the secure walls of Jerusalem to build new Jewish neighborhoods.
The number of Israel's casualties of war stand at 23,741 as of May 2019. Since last Memorial Day, 96 new names were added to the roster of those who died defending the country. Of these, fifty-six were IDF soldiers and police, and 40 were disabled veterans who passed away due to complications from injuries sustained during their service.
Thirteen names were also added to the list of civilian Israeli terror victims who perished in attacks in the past year, bringing the total to 3,150.
Remembrance Day ceremonies commence at 11:00 AM at 52 IDF military cemeteries located throughout the country, following a two-minute blast of the siren. There will also be a ceremony for overseas Mahal volunteers who fought and died during the War of Independence, which will take place near the Sha'ar Hagai Junction. Israel's flag, adorned with a black ribbon and memorial flame, is placed on each and every grave of those who fell in Israel's battles and are buried in military cemeteries throughout Israel. It expresses the country's respect for the fallen as well as the entire country's participation in the grief of the families.
The main national event on the eve of the Day of Remembrance for Israel's Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Hostilities, the annual Songs in Their Memory event, will take place in the Knesset`s Chagall Hall. Hundreds of members of bereaved families will attend event, which will begin at 21:15 on Tuesday evening and will be broadcast live on the Knesset website.
A joint initiative of the Knesset, the Defense Ministry`s Families and Commemoration Department and the National Insurance Institute`s Division for Victims of Terror Attacks, the event will be held in the presence of Speaker of the Knesset MK Yuli Yoel Edelstein (Likud), President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister and Defense Minister MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) and Supreme Court President Esther Hayut, with the participation of Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services Haim Katz (Likud), IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi (this will mark the first time an IDF chief of staff takes part in the event), Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, acting Israel Police Commissioner Major General Moti Cohen and acting chief of the Israel Prison Service Commissioner Asher Vaknin. The dignitaries will read poems in memory of the fallen and, for the first time, will lay a rose on the memorial boulder in the Knesset’s courtyard, located beside the memorial for Israel’s fallen soldiers.
Various Israeli artists will perform at the event and films depicting the stories of several individuals will be screened.
Memorial Day will end on Wednesday evening (8 may 2019) with the national torch-lighting ceremony at Mount Herzl that will usher in Israel’s 71st Independence Day.