Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement this evening (Thursday) calling for unity and the absence of politics during Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of hostilities next week.
“In the coming days, we will raise our eyes to the military plots in the cemeteries. Each gravestone there tells a story of a life that has been cut short,” Netanyahu said.
“The silent mourning unity of the cemeteries cries out to us during these days. Our loved ones who fell, our loved ones who paid with their lives for our resurrection, did it for us – and we must stand together for them. We must be united to be worthy of their sacrifice. And so, just before the holy days that are upon us, unity is the order of the hour.

“In the past few months, an important debate has been raging among us over our democracy, but during these days, I ask all elected officials, from the right and left, to put the argument aside, to leave it outside of the cemeteries. To allow the bereaved families, and all of us, to mourn in silence the memory of our loved ones,” he said.
We all deserve to experience these days when the entire nation of Israel stands united, behind our heroes, without any debate. May we be worthy of the great sacrifice of our loved ones, of our heroes,” the Prime Minister concluded.