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Tell Friends![Photo: Har Herzl Military Cemetary, Jerusalem, Israel. Credit: The Jewish Agency for Israel [License]](https://onej.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Har-Hertzl-Yom-HaZikaron-1024x576.jpg)
Israel observes its Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron) to honor fallen soldiers and citizens who died as victims of terror.
Photo: Har Herzl Military Cemetary, Jerusalem, Israel. Credit: The Jewish Agency for Israel [License]
The State of Israel came to a standstill at 11 am Wednesday when a siren shrieked through the countryside, reminding the nation of the losses we’ve suffered this year and those past.
The siren also sounded after nightfall at the start of Israel’s Memorial Day to remember IDF soldiers who fell in the line of duty and Israeli citizens who died as victims of terror.
Israel has lost 23,477 soldiers in wars since the time Jews first began to settle outside the ancient city of Jerusalem. The figure includes members of all of Israel’s defense forces: the IDF, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the Mossad, Israel Police, Israel Prisons Service, World War II Jewish Brigade and Israel Defense Forces soldiers who died of wounds suffered during combat. There were 59 such soldiers this year.
In Jerusalem a memorial ceremony to honor fallen soldiers began at Mount Herzl military cemetery with the sound of the siren. President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and other dignitaries attended the event in Jerusalem.
