Israel Independence Day is celebrated annually on the anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, according to the Hebrew calendar, on 5 Iyar. The day preceding this celebration is devoted to the memory of those who gave their lives for the achievement of the country's independence and its continued existence.

This proximity is intended to remind people of the heavy price paid for independence. On this day the entire nation remembers its debt and expresses eternal gratitude to its sons and daughters who gave their lives for the achievement of the country's independence and its continued existence.

On May 14, 1948, the day the British Mandate expired, the new Jewish state - the State of Israel - was formally established in parts of what was known as the British Mandate for Palestine. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Jewish independence was restored after 2,000 years.

Independence Day is a celebration of the renewal of the Jewish state in the Land of Israel, the birthplace of the Jewish people. In this land, the Jewish people began to develop its distinctive religion and culture some 4,000 years ago, and here it has preserved an unbroken physical presence, for centuries as a sovereign state, at other times under foreign domination. Throughout their long history, the yearning to return to the land has been the focus of Jewish life. Theodor Herzl, the leader and founder of the Zionist movement, increased international recognition for the need of a Jewish state.

Since its establishment, Israel continues to be a homeland to the thousands who make their way to Israel annually. It is home to some of the holiest religious sites of the three major religions, all which enjoy the democratic rights delineated in the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel.

Jerusalem, 14 April 2013

Remarks by President Shimon Peres at the opening commemoration ceremony of Remembrance Day for Fallen of Israel's Wars and Victims of Terrorism

In a day or two the flags will be folded. The trumpets will return to their regular sounds and Israel will go back to its daily routine. You will also return to your regular routines, but it will never be the same as ours. You will wake in the morning and in an instant, abruptly, the smile that accompanied you all those years vanished. You will sit down for breakfast and the chair next to you will be empty and will never be filled again. It is the son that won't wake up late for the meal. It is the daughter that will not come. You will sit with friends in the evening and they will tell a joke and you will smile, like everyone else, but the smile will be forced. Your friends will be relaxed. You no longer will be. Their stories and their words will seem like they come from a distant land. You will walk in the street and old friends will look down. And you will understand; it is hard for them to look into your sad eyes. You will hear family members, friends, acquaintances all try to speak to you but the words get lost. Because in front of your eyes and your faces, words are lost.

You will look closely at their friends, who used to come to visit them. You will see them grow up in front of your eyes, finishing their army service, getting married, having children, building a career, rising up the ladder and rising in rank. Your thoughts will wander to distant and dreamy scenes; that's your daughter, that's your son, who will no longer see the light of day. Who will not be a father, who will not grow old. His face will always remain as pure as snow. And the lines will decorate your face, not his.

Dear families,

We are those that know your routine will never be like ours. We are those that know the secret of your tear-stained pillow at night. We who walked side by side with your children, and those among us who saw them in the last moments of their lives, we know that this evening there are no words that can heal that pain. We know that the hug which can roll back the wheel of life as if nothing had happened, has not yet been discovered. As if the nightmare is over, as if it was a bad dream.

If only there was such a word, such an embrace we would go to the ends of the earth to bring it to you. You, who will never again hear your children's laughter or their voice as they come down the stairs, you will not pull the covers at night over your child, father, husband. You, who will never worry again about their late return home. There is no end to your pain; there isn't a day or a night, nor a month or a year. You the parents, the fiancés, the children, the brothers and the sisters – You are the real heroes of life.

Tomorrow, or the next day, you will return to your home which is missing a son or a daughter, you will look at the pictures on the wall and in the albums, remember each moment, each word, each laugh – and the tears will run down your cheeks. We won't be there when you cry, but we know well the rivers of your tears. We know how much you invested in raising these wonderful children.

Dear families,

We are here today to say to you that we know there is no comfort for someone who lost a son, a husband, a father, a brother. That we cannot replace those who have gone. But maybe it will comfort you, even a little, the knowledge that we, your family, your friends, we remember them and will always remember them. Their faces will never disappear from the images of our life. For every mother and father whose world has been darkened, for every wife who became a widow, and for every brother and sister, son and daughter of a fallen soldier, who shed a tear for their loves ones, who hug and embrace the cold stone lovingly – To you, the families, this stone monument is not anonymous. It is an anchor for your longing which will remain in its place forever. It is a burden of sorrow, always in your hearts.

Nurit Dagan, whose son fell in an explosion in Beit-Lid, best described the sense of loss. She wrote:

'The hardest thing is living; to carry on as if nothing has happened. To know that the sun rises and sets even without you. The easiest thing is to wear dark clothes, to curl up at home in painful silence. It is hardest to buy new clothes, to put on make-up, to go to the cinema and the theatre, to go to friends’ weddings, to laugh at jokes about the country. It is easiest to stay at home and watch soap operas. It is hardest to watch the news and see young soldiers injured and killed. Killed, like you, our children. It is easiest to flee abroad during the holidays. To wander around a foreign country, to forget the festive atmosphere at home, that everyone is celebrating with their families. It is hardest to stay in Israel during the festivals, to take part in the festivities, to smile, to speak gently while inside your heart is broken, broken and rotting with longing. It is easiest to take part in a memorial service, like the one here tonight. To mourn with everyone the loss of our beloved children, taken too soon; the hardest thing is returning home from here, to the void, to the emptiness.' So she wrote, in tears not in ink.

Dear friends,

When you and I look out from within this deep mourning, at this historic place called the State of Israel, at our victories on the battlefields and in peace; the vibrant pulse of creativity; the fantastic achievements that place this country at the forefront of the world in so many fields – there is no limit to our pride, there is no limit to my pride. Israel's existence is no longer in question. The IDF is ready for any scenario, against any enemy. Against any danger.

The courage and spirit of the soldiers of the IDF and their commanders, their courage and faith in the righteousness of their path together with the preservation of their morals and values are the guarantees that the IDF will prevail. We know it. Our enemies have learnt it. May they not err again. We have a duty to spare no effort and no cost to end the war and bring security and peace to this country. Because even if the price of peace will be heavy, we will always be able to bear it. Terror brings death. Peace brings life. For us and our neighbours.

Dear families,

We will not forget even for a moment and will always remember those to whom the survival of Israel and its glory are indebted. Those who over the 65 years of the state's existence protected it with their bodies, their blood and their lives, defended its borders and the security of its citizens, its independence and its freedom. Israel is as dear to us as the bravery of its fighters, and as dear as the depth of the sorrow for each fallen soldier.

Here, next to the sacred stones of the Western Wall, I say on behalf of all of Israel that you, the fallen of Israel's wars, deserve eternal glory and our ultimate gratitude.

April 14, 2013

PM Netanyahu’s Remarks at the Yad LaBanim Memorial Service for IDF Fallen Soldiers :

Dear bereaved families and distinguished guests,

As the week of remembrance, revival and independence begins, we bow our heads and lower our flag in memory of 23,085 soldiers who fell in Israel’s military campaigns. Jews, Druze, Christians, Muslims, Bedouins, Circassians – Israel’s fallen soldiers come from all walks of life in Israeli society. We value the enormous contribution made by the fallen soldiers, and there is no greater equality than standing together at the frontlines, sacrificing their lives so that we may live.

In a few hours, as the siren echoes all over Israel marking a minute of silence, we will gather around memorial candles, we will come together in deep anguish, and in pining for our loved ones, our glorious heroes.

Ever since becoming a nation, we have been forced to fight for our freedom and our existence. Jew-haters in every generation have banished us, persecuted us, slain us and have tried to eradicate the memory of Israel from the face of the earth. Today there are still those who threaten to annihilate us – they did not succeed in the past, and they will never succeed. The glory of Israel will not lie.

If we are so condemned, then we will raise our swords and go to battle against those who wish to harm us. We do not want war, we are not bloodthirsty. Our arm is extended in peace to all peoples and all countries, near and far, but over the ages we have learned that only strong defenses can ensure that we stay safe.

Like you, bereaved families, my family has also paid the price of Israel’s sovereignty. I too have felt the torment of loss and absence, the heart’s cry. My consolation, our consolation, is that our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters have not fallen in vain. It is thanks to them that we are a free people in our own country.

I remember well Rivka Guber who lost both her sons Ephraim and Zvi in the War of Independence. She did not succumb to her grief, and she dedicated her life to immigrant absorption in Israel.

I am in awe of the strength of Miriam Peretz who lost two of her sons, Uriel and Eliraz, who fell in battle in Lebanon and on the border with Gaza. She said that what gave them the strength was their absolute faith in our right to be a free people in our country.

Blessed is the people who has such sons; blessed is the people who has sons with such families.

I look at you, in your eyes, and identify with the vastness of the pain. My father, Professor Ben-Zion Netanyahu, of blessed memory, passed away over a year ago.  Decades after my brother Yoni fell, he published his life’s work, a comprehensive study of Spanish Jewry and the Inquisition. On the first page he wrote that he dedicated the book to his son Yonatan who was killed saving his people in Entebbe. He said: “I dedicate the book with unremitting grief.”

The pain does not loosen its grip on us, the family of bereavement. Yet I can see that the wounds inflicted by bereavement have not detracted from your steadfast spirit and soul – and that is the secret of our strength and our might.

The entire nation follows us, follows you, embraces you to their hearts and honors your noble demeanor in the face of incessant anguish. It draws from your mental strength. Today, the entire people and I salute the courage of our finest sons and daughters, who are worthy of glory for all eternity.

By virtue of the love of Israel, our unity, total devotion, faith and sacrifice, Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.