Prime Minister Netanyahu:

"My brothers and sisters, bereaved families,

I am one of you, a part of the family of bereavement. I am familiar with the grief and sorrow, the pride and the sense of longing. And I am familiar with our desire, the desire of the families, to commemorate our loved ones who sacrificed their lives for us, for our country and for our nation.

One of the most meaningful moments in the impressive army service of Major Bar Falah of the Nahal Brigade, was his visit to Holocaust sites in Poland. After visiting a village where hundreds of Jewish babies had been buried, Bar said: 'I swore to myself that the Jewish people will never suffer this again. Not as long as the IDF is prepared. Not as long as I am here.'

Bar is not here. He was killed seven months ago in a clash with terrorists. But his spirit is with us in all its force.

'Ahi [my brother], a Hero' is the name given to the commemoration initiative for Bar Falah. 'Ahi, a Hero' was established to instill Bar's values among Israel's youth: His love for Israel, his generosity towards his nation and fearlessness in his military service. 'Ahi, a Hero': Brotherhood and courage. This year, more than ever, as we remember our fallen heroes, we remember that we are all brothers: Jews, Druze, Muslims, Bedouin, Christian, Circassians. Brothers in service, brothers in arms, blood brothers.

As a fighter and commander in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, I lost brothers in arms: Zohar Linik from Yehud, Chaim Ben-Yona from Kibbutz Yechiam, and David Ben-Hamo from Be’er Sheba, who died in my arms. A few years later, I lost my older brother Yoni, who fell while leading the soldiers who went to free the hostages in Entebbe. 

I was moved to see Major-General Yossi Ben Hanan, an Israeli hero who received the Medal of Courage, next to my brother's grave yesterday. Fifty years ago, in the Yom Kippur war, Yoni rescued Yossi, who had been left injured at the site of battle on the Golan Heights, by the Syrian post at Tel Shams. Yoni received a Medal for Distinguished Service for this. Yossi came to my brother's grave yesterday with his daughter, whom he named Yoni. 'I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan; you were most dear to me.'

All of our families mourn over our fallen beloved ones. 'I am racked with grief' says the writer of Psalms. Each family suffers in its own way. But the support of the nation gives us the strength to seize life, to move on from the loss of brothers and sons. And the bereaved families on their part, strengthen the spirit of the nation with their fortitude.

This spirit has been accompanying us for the 75 years of our independence, and it has no expression more painful, more exalted, than the horrific story of the Lichtenstein family. Their three sons, three brothers, fell in Israel's wars. The oldest son, Yaakov, escorted convoys bringing supplies to Jerusalem, which was under siege in the War of Independence. He was killed in the Mount of Olives nine days before the State of Israel was established. The second son, Avner, also fell in the War of Independence on the Armon HaNatziv front. Their third son, Eli, fought in the Six Day War, but a year later, on his way home from reserve duty on the Golan Heights, he was killed in a car accident. The three brothers where the grandsons of Ze'ev Elimelech Lichtenstein, who was murdered in the 1929 Hebron Massacre.

In spite of their grief after losing their first-born son, his parents, Yehoshua and Hannah said: 'Yaakov died a hero. We shall continue our fight until victory.' When that pain was doubled when their second son was killed, they said: 'The entire family will continue to fight until we gain victory. After the death of their third son tripled their sorrow, their father Yehoshua, who was near the end of his life, said: 'We must gather strength, we must overcome.' Three brothers fell, and left behind an incredible family heritage: the boys' supreme personal sacrifice, and the supreme courage displayed by their parents. This courage is what has enabled us to vanquish our enemies through the ages and the ability to continue building our country.

Bialik wrote, 'There was a man, and see, he is no more.' But for us, for the families, the fallen are with us always. They live within us; they live on in the heart of the nation. And we all live thanks to them. 

To our wounded brothers I wish a speedy recovery. I watched a very moving film about the paratrooper officer Nadav Weinberg who was severely injured in an attack in the City of David two months ago. Despite his injuries, he managed to neutralize the terrorist and save his family. For weeks, he hung between life and death. We visited him in the hospital. He recovered miraculously, and when he arrived at his unit's military ceremony at the Western Wall, his soldiers cheered him for many minutes. The cheered him as brothers, from their hearts and souls.

This is the true spirit of our nation. We will stand together as brothers and bring back our brothers Oron. Hadar, Avera and Hisham. We will stand together as brothers and guarantee our independence from generation to generation. We will stand as brothers and bow our heads in unending gratitude for the courage of the fallen and the resilience of their families.

May the sacred memory of our brothers and sisters, the beloved heroes, be cherished in the heart of the nation forever."