President Isaac Herzog and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir issued pleas for unity, and praised the country’s resolve in wartime, at Israel’s official Memorial Day ceremony Monday evening at the Western Wall.

At an earlier event, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF’s work was not yet done in Iran.

The state ceremony came at the start of a solemn day in the Israeli national calendar, when people across the country pause to memorialize loved ones killed in battle and in terror attacks. As the country turned its lens to the bereaved, those who lost loved ones spoke about their pain and pride.

The events began at 8 p.m. with the sounding of a one-minute siren across the country, during which Israelis stood in silence, marking the onset of Memorial Day. A memorial flame for the fallen was then lit at the ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.

In their remarks, national leaders noted that this was the third Memorial Day since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which began a period of near-constant fighting on multiple fronts. In addition to praising the soldiers who have fought in those battles, both Herzog and Zamir nodded to the deep rifts that have plagued Israeli society in recent years, especially throughout the war.

“Our nation has one song, a song of many voices,” Herzog said near the end of his remarks. “The history of our people teaches, again and again: When voices silence one another, the danger grows. When voices sing together, the nation rises.”

Earlier in his speech, Herzog paid tribute to “this generation” of Israeli soldiers, encouraging them to consider “what comes after the war.”

“We are still in the midst of the campaign. In recent days, to our deep sorrow, more precious and beloved sons have been added to the list of the fallen,” Herzog said, referring to soldiers killed during renewed fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which was sparked by the US-Israeli war with Iran.

“War is a fateful time, a national test, and as a nation we are meeting it with extraordinary strength, and will continue to meet it with determination and resolve, through all the unbearable pain,” he said.

Herzog recounted stories and writings of several soldiers killed during the fighting against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon over the past two and a half years, as well as in previous wars.

He stressed the need to balance........

© The Times of Israel