Itongadol.- After minute of silence, President Peres and IDF Chief of Staff Gantz honor 23,169 fallen soldiers at Western Wall ceremony.
Israel will mark the beginning of Memorial Day with a minute of silence as a siren sounds across the country on 8 pm Sunday.
The State ceremony will be held at the Western Wall and will be attended by President Shimon Peres and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, both of whom will light a memorial candle for the fallen.
President Peres opened the ceremony, saying "our son, our daughter, the brother, the husband, will remain as they were when we last some them before they left. In their death they willed that we live according to the values of the Ten Commandments. To be an enlightened and productive society. To be a free and democratic society. To strive for peace.
"67 years ago the UN voted to establish the State of Israel," Peres said at the beginning of his speech, "but it was not that announcement which really established the state. It was founded with the blood of our sons, with the sweat of the pioneers and the foresight of the prophets.
"For generations the pain does not stop, even during the happy times. Our happiness is always marred by a void, a cloud of sadness which engulfs us."
Turning to the bereaved parents, Peres said "as he who was a partner in the building the state, for all its pain and achievement, I ask – despite the pain – be proud of this amazing creation called the State of Israel."
Gantz further said that "while the siren sounds and cuts through the cloudy darkness, I return to my friends and partners from along the way, who worked to build Israel\’s defense brick by brick.
"I recall their laughter, the gaze, their faces, I carry with me the determination and resolve they had in our way. I recall them and turn my gaze at their torchbearers – the commanders and soldiers of the IDF, our forces.