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Soldiers from an Israeli military honor guard stand at attention during a service marking Memorial Day at the Western Wall, Monday. (AP)
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| By Associated Press May 2, 2006 |
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| A soldier from an Israeli honor guard stands next to the memorial flame during a service marking Memorial Day at the Western Wall, Monday. (AP) |
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With the wail of air raid sirens at sundown Monday, Israel began its annual observance of Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks.
Incoming Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who completed formation of his new government earlier Monday, addressed survivors at a ceremony at the site of a bloody battle in Jerusalem during the 1967 Mideast war.
"I pledge that we will do all we can to avert further losses and further bereavement over our sons," he said, "to bring peace to our nation."
According to government statistics, 22,123 soldiers and civilians have been killed in wars and hostile acts, including 138 soldiers and 45 civilians over the past year.
Relatives families and soldiers gathered at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Judaism's holiest site, for the opening ceremony. A color guard stood at attention as air raid sirens sounded, signaling a nationwide minute of silence. On Tuesday morning, the sirens will sound again for a two-minute period of tribute before ceremonies in military cemeteries across the nation.
Unlike other countries, where Memorial Day has become a time for parades and picnics, the day in Israel is one of the most somber on the secular calendar. Radio and TV stations broadcast programs devoted to the memory of the soldiers, interviewing survivors and families.
Army Radio planned a program of poems written by soldiers before they were killed, set to music and performed by top Israeli singers.
Thousands gathered in Rabin Square in the center of Tel Aviv for an evening of music and songs in memory of the fallen.
Israel's Memorial Day is followed immediately by Independence Day, a sometimes jarring contrast of sorrow and celebration. At a ceremony at the military cemetery in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening, flags will be raised from half-staff to the tops of the flagpoles, and Israel's 58th birthday party will begin.
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