'An entire nation stands behind them': Pres. Herzog opens Israel's Memorial Day

President Isaac Herzog opened Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism with a speech at the Western Wall on Monday evening.

He began with a tribute to Major (res.) Dr. Eitan Menachem Neeman, a physician at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, who treated victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre. The following day, Neeman was called up for reserve duty, and a day later, he was killed in action while engaging Hamas terrorists on the outskirts of Sderot.

In his memory, Dr. Neeman’s sister published a poem recovered from the Cairo Geniza, a trove of ancient documents buried by the Jewish community in Cairo over 1,000 years ago.

The poem was written by a rabbi who had recently lost his son, Herzog said, adding that while the poem is ancient, it remains timeless and speaks to the grief and determination of the Jewish people in times of both hardship and triumph across generations.

Herzog continued by saying, “As we enter this sacred day, I wish to offer a prayer for our warriors and all IDF soldiers and security forces, in regular service and reserves, wherever they may be. An entire nation stands behind them…war is a fateful time, a national test, and as a nation, we are meeting it with extraordinary strength, and will continue to meet it with determination and resolve, through all the unbearable pain.”

He added his personal thanks to everyone who serves the nation in the military and other emergency services, and his wish for those who have been wounded in action, a swift and full recovery. He also spoke of the grief that those who have lost a loved one carry within them.

“On this occasion, I stand before you, bereaved families, in sacred awe at the threshold of your home, and on behalf of the entire nation, I ask your permission to enter, to sit with you, to be with you, to weep with you, to feel together the pain of the void in which there is no air to breathe. To remember all of your loved ones.”

Next he addressed the current conflict, saying that in these times there are reminders everywhere one looks of the fallen in this war, and when we add them all together, he said it makes “a song of soldiers, of warriors, women and men, who fought and fell for the right to sing the song of our people, for our collective right to carry the song of life.”

He then shared stories of soldiers who had fallen in battle over the past two and a half years of the current war, saying many more deserved to be eulogized.

“Believe me, I would want to speak about each and every one of them,” he said. “At this sacred moment, I would want to speak about their deeds, their creations, their songs, their writings, and their thoughts. I would speak of the thousands of soldiers, women and men, who courageously went to war, to protect our lives here, and to secure a life of song and creativity for all of us. They left a void in our hearts that will never be filled. But they also left us their spiritual treasures…in every field, that express the power of their spirit, the great song that pulsed inside of them and inside of us.”

He also said that Israelis possess a spirit that yearns for peace and happiness in the land, adding, “This spirit is the spirit that we fight for. The sword is a tool in our hands, but the spirit is the purpose that guides us.”

“From the days of Deborah the Prophetess and King David, composer of the Psalms, through the fighters of the pre-state underground movements and down to our generation, our warriors have always fought for a life of strong, resonant song, full of vision and consolation.”

"Our fallen had beautiful faces, and in different ways, they left behind many words and one- a command to live – that we were meant to live here together," he continued.

"The history of our people teaches, again and again: when voices silence one another, the danger grows. When voices sing together, the nation rises. May the memory of the fallen soldiers be a blessing, and may the song of their lives be bound in our hearts, our souls, and our spirits for all eternity, and may their souls be bound in the bond of eternal life," Herzog concluded.