Israel to build first memorial honoring fallen Christian IDF soldiers
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a cornerstone-laying ceremony last week for a new memorial honoring fallen Christian IDF soldiers in Israel. The memorial, to be established in Lavi Forest near the Golani Junction in northern Israel, will be the first dedicated specifically to fallen members of Israel’s Christian community.
The project began in 2017, when former IDF officer Shadi Khalloul petitioned then-Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman for a memorial. After years of delays, former IDF officer Ihab Shlayan brought the project to the Jerusalem Institute of Justice, which helped move it forward.
At the ceremony, Netanyahu highlighted the service of Israel’s Christian soldiers and said, “Christians protect us! All of us, together.” Tamar Stachel Devor of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice said the memorial will tell Christian bereaved families, “We see you. We remember your loved ones.”
