Israel Remembers 23,320 Fallen on its Memorial Day

By Kanan Abramson

On Tuesday evening and Wednesday during the day, hundreds of Israelis jammed cemeteries to remember and honor 23,320 Israelis who fell in battle and terror attacks for the rebirth of the Jewish State. The events opened with a State memorial ceremony, attended by Israel's President, Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister, Moshe Yaalon, IDF Chief of Staff, Gaddi Eisenkot and Chief of Israel's Police, Yohanan Dannino. Thousands of family members of the fallen participated in the events, which is being observed across the state by everyone.

In photos: At Jerusalem-Mt. Herzl military cemetery, after the morning's siren, the second official memorial service for the fallen began at Mt. Herzl together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot.  Netanyahu spoke of the death of his brother Yonatan Netanyahu, who was killed during Operation Entebbe in Uganda in 1976: "The bereaved familes spoke of the knock at the door by the messengers who crushed their lives. I was the one who knocked on my parents door. It was the worst moment in my life." Netanyahu met with berieved families who lost their lovedones in battle and terror acts. Photos: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post for /Israel and SunGil Yohanan/Ynet for Israel Sun