Updated: Apr. 14, 2021 11:39 AM
Apr. 14, 2021 10:44 AM
Updated: Apr. 14, 2021 11:39 AM
Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism is being commemorated on Wednesday around the country with official ceremonies.
Speaking at the main ceremony in the National Hall for Israel’s Fallen on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the 1973 Yom Kippur War “and the tremendous sacrifice made by our fighters paved the way for peace with Egypt, but also taught us an invaluable lesson: We must never remain indifferent to threats of annihilation and destruction by those who hate us.”
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Israeli soldiers on Memorial Day, 2021.Credit: Hadas Parush
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Protesters hold signs reading, We are all Itzik Saidyan, outside the Defense Ministry s Rehabilitation Department in Petah Tikva, April 14, 2021. (Flash90)
Dozens of people gathered Wednesday for the morning’s Memorial Day siren at the site where an IDF veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder self-immolated.
Itzik Saidyan, 26, set himself alight on Monday in an apparent act of protest and desperation that shocked the country and drew attention to the plight of traumatized veterans.
The demonstrators standing outside the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department offices in Petah Tikva held signs with slogans including, “We are all Itzik Saidyan.”
An organizer of the event said she had been unable to stop thinking about Saidyan’s case.