JERUSALEM (VINnews)  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday paid tribute to Israel’s fallen soldiers and terror victims at a Yad LaBanim ceremony marking Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars, framing their sacrifice as the foundation of the Jewish state’s independence and resilience against existential threats.b34c4b

-Speaking at the central opening event in Jerusalem on the eve of the solemn day, Netanyahu recalled the personal pain of bereavement, including the loss of his brother Yoni Netanyahu in the 1976 Entebbe raid, while highlighting national unity and military achievements amid ongoing conflicts.

“The wound is deeper than time itself,” Netanyahu said. “Time passes, but it does not dull the memory of that moment of tidings, the most bitter of all.”

He described Remembrance Day as “soaked in heavy sorrow, yet at the same time, it is an anchor of unifying togetherness,” quoting the prophet Isaiah: “For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more.”

Netanyahu spotlighted the story of Cheli Wolfstal, a bereaved mother who carried stones from her son Ariel’s grave in Kfar Etzion to Holocaust sites in Poland during a “Witnesses in Uniform” mission with IDF officers. Wolfstal, whose son fell in the “War of Redemption,” emphasized the necessity of Israeli strength.

“I and my family paid the price of redemption, and our hearts are torn,” she said, according to Netanyahu. “This journey illustrated to me what would have happened had we not had the Israel Defense Forces.”

The prime minister linked the Holocaust to contemporary threats, stating that Israeli action prevented Iran’s nuclear sites — Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan — from becoming new death camps alongside Auschwitz, Birkenau and Treblinka.

“Iran, as in every generation, rose against us to destroy us,” he said. “It planned to destroy us with atomic bombs. Had we not acted … But we acted, and we crushed the murderous plot.”

Netanyahu noted the 25,648 fallen in Israel’s wars, including recent casualties on the Lebanese front such as Barak Kalfon and Lidor Porat, along with thousands of terror victims. He praised the “Generation of the War of Redemption” for its achievements since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

“Our flag is planted from the depths of the Gaza Strip to the crown of Mount Hermon,” he said, citing biblical imagery of Israel rising “as a great lion.”

He also highlighted the return of all hostages from Gaza, both living and fallen, and paid respects to the wounded, including Maj. Rabbi Liraz Zeira, who lost both legs but declared, “They took my legs, and gave me wings instead.”

Netanyahu concluded by bowing heads in memory of the fallen: “May their memory be blessed for generations to come.”

The ceremony, attended by senior Israeli officials, came as the country transitions from Remembrance Day to Independence Day celebrations amid a multi-front conflict that Netanyahu described as unprecedented since the 1948 War of Independence.