Israel’s ceremonial president calls for unity on Memorial Day

JERUSALEM — Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on Israel to rise above political wrangling, especially during the national Memorial Day, at a candle-lighting ceremony in Jerusalem.

“At this pure national moment, I call: remove the IDF from political disputes,” he said, referring to Israel’s military. “Place the Shin Bet, the Mossad, the police, and all security services above all disputes.”

Hours earlier, the Israeli Cabinet voted to cancel a government decision to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, part of a political dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Shin Bet.

Israel’s Memorial Day, which lasts from sunset to sunset, began Tuesday evening with an official ceremony in Jerusalem.

“We all have one home. We all have one country. We all have one fate. We all have one future,” Netanyahu said. “Everyone understands who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting about,” he said.

The ceremony is the first of many official ceremonies and smaller events at military cemeteries and memorials across the country. The solemnity is followed by the fanfare of Independence Day, which begins Wednesday evening.

Fifty-nine hostages are still inside Gaza, of which around two dozen hostages are still believed to be alive. Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Thousands of people attended a ceremony for fallen soldiers and victims of attacks at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, one of the holiest sites where Jews can pray.

The ceremony has been held annually since 2006.

Liat Atzili, who was held in captivity by Hamas for 54 days, addressed the ceremony and spoke about her husband, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, on Kibbutz Nir Oz. She described how he loved tractors and the wildflowers that bloomed in the western Negev. She also spoke of things that gave her hope during her time in captivity.

“In this situation, where I have no control over anything, I still have the opportunity to decide the type of person I want to be,” she said.

Israel police said three protesters were arrested after a brawl outside a screening of the ceremony in Raanana, a town north of Tel Aviv.

Elsewhere, the Palestinian Red Crescent aid group said one of its medics, Asaad al-Nsasrah, was released by Israel on Tuesday alongside nine other detainees from Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel intercepted a drone fired “from the east.”

The Israeli military didn’t specify where the drone might have come from, saying only that it was intercepted before entering the country’s airspace and that no air raid sirens were activated.

Since the ceasefire in Gaza ended last month, a handful of rockets have been fired from the Palestinian territory as well as long-range missiles from Yemen.