We have no choice but to fight terror until it is obliterated and to defend our lives," he told bereaved families gathered for the official state ceremony on the Mount Herzl military ceremony in Jerusalem.
"This is what we have done and what we are doing. The State of Israel, through the Israel Defense Forces, has responded with war, determination and diligence, with courage and sophistication, using an incomparable morality of combat," he said.
"Terror is a war crime, the indiscriminate murder of innocent civilians," the prime minister added.
...
not compromise on its security for the sake of peace.
"Our hand is extended in peace to all our neighbors. But our enemies should not misunderstand: We shall never compromise on our security, the security of the state of Israel. That is our obligation to the fallen, that is our obligation to the citizens of Israel, that is our obligation to coming generations," Netanyahu said.
I'm pleased to know that the current Israeli PM gets it.
Original post continues:
This site as a whole is an ongoing "Yom Hazikaron". I collect and report on these issues daily. I keep permanent links to relevant items as well.
Before celebrating independence, Israel commemorates fallen soldiers and terror victims. The idea to hold a memorial day so adjacent to such festivity was to keep saying: With their life they gave us our freedom and security.
That is not true for terror victims. With their lives, they remind us of horrific experiments in peace making. They died needlessly on the alter of leftism and liberalism and deserve a separate day!
I am not playing politics with pain. I'm stating my opinion, the same opinion I express every day. Civilian victims deserve their own day. Attaching them to fallen soldiers degrades the sacrifice of the armed forces, and belittles the terror victims pain. It is not the same. Only the enemy is the same.
Civilian casualties mark the inhumanity of our enemies who seek to commit genocide. Never Again! Never again derelict the duty of protecting the civilians by fairy land policy making. The armed forces were built to protect the Jews from the next holocaust.
Military casualties signify Israel's strength. The fallen have given to ultimate sacrifice in order to maintaining secure borders and prevent the genocidal desires of enemies.
Here's some reportage of today's ceremonies from ynetnews:
Israel remembers its 22,570 fallen
Two-minute siren sounds across country, followed by state memorial services for fallen IDF soldiers, terror victims on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl. Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed bereaved families, says 'there's no consolation and no way to forget.' Father of Chabad emissary's wife who was killed in Mumbai: Pain grows with every day that passes
Israel's 22,570 fallen IDF soldiers and terror victims remembered: Tens of thousands of bereaved families visited their loved ones' graves at cemeteries across the country on Tuesday morning to honor the dead. The past year saw 133 Israelis join the list of fallen.
The main state memorial service honoring the Israel Defense Forces' fallen soldiers commenced at 11 am at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl. The ceremony began will a two-minute siren. State memorial services were also being held at the same time in all military cemeteries across the country.
The main ceremony was attended by President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said in his speech, "Behind every gravestone there are chapters of childhood, youth and adulthood, dreams that were shattered in one moment, aspirations that evaporated and went up in smoke.
Netanyahu turned to the audience, saying "this day I speak to you, my brothers and sisters, members of the bereaved families, as the prime minister of Israel and as the member of a bereaved family. I know bereaved parents have no consolation and no way to forget.
"I know the meaning of the death of a beloved and admired brother, who went away and will never return. I know that for a bereaved family every day is a memorial day. Every day of the year, every morning we wake up to a space which cannot be filled."
The prime minister said that "what changed in Jewish history is not the hatred of Jews, but our ability to defend ourselves against it. From here, in Jerusalem, I say to you and to all the citizens of Israel, that we will never abandon our fate again. We will never lose our defensive force. Our hand is extended in peace to all our neighbors, but our enemies must not be mistaken – we will never compromise on the security of the State of Israel."
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