Israel commemorates 22,993 soldiers who died in line of duty

As Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism approaches, flags laid on graves of two soldiers who died last week • Youth for Jerusalem movement launches "Adopt a Fallen Soldier" project, to commemorate soldiers who have no family to preserve their memories.
On memorial day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, which begins at sundown Tuesday, Israel will honor the 22,993 soldiers who have fallen in the line of duty since 1860 (when modern-day Jews first settled outside Jerusalem's Old City). Since last year's remembrance day, 126 additional soldiers have fallen. In Israel today there are 10,524 bereaved families of fallen soldiers, among them 2,396 orphans and 4,992 widows.

The Memorial Day events were to begin Sunday with a flag being laid on the grave of the last soldier to have been buried at Mount Herzl cemetery. This year, in a break from tradition, Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz will lay two flags on the graves of two soldiers who were killed last week: one for Lt. Hila Betzaleli, who was killed Wednesday during a rehearsal for an Independence Day ceremony when a lighting apparatus collapsed on stage, and another for Cpl. Yehoshua Hefetz, who died on the same day of heart failure during a military tryout for an elite unit.

On Tuesday, a minute-long siren will sound at 8 p.m. marking the beginning of Memorial Day, followed immediately by official events. On Wednesday, a two-minute siren will sound at 11 a.m. as part of Memorial Day ceremonies across the country.

A small flag on a flame-shaped pole bearing a black ribbon will be laid on the grave of every soldier who died in the line of duty as an expression of respect and sympathy. More than a million people are expected to visit military cemeteries across the country this week.

In addition, the Israel Prison Service will award distinguished service medals for exemplary bravery in the line of duty to the 37 cadets who lost their lives in the Mount Carmel forest fire in late 2010. The medals will be handed to the families by Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.

Meanwhile, a movement calling itself Youth for Jerusalem is trying to preserve the memory of all the fallen soldiers who do not have families to visit their gravesites or retell their stories. The movement has launched a unique project dubbed "Adopt a Fallen Soldier," which encourages young people and members of youth groups to adopt a late IDF soldier or member of the pre-state underground and visit their graves, light memorial candles and tell the story of their bravery to other youngsters. 

Eleventh-grader Ilana Kleiman, one of the counselors in the project, said, "This is a meaningful initiative because these are soldiers who fought for the state and there is no one to remember them. Some of them were Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel, fought and died for the establishment of this country, and that is why it is important that their contribution is never forgotten."

Hila Zissberg, chairwoman of Youth for Jerusalem, said, "It is a great thrill for us to take part in this project. Those fallen soldiers who gave their lives for the establishment of the state and for all of our sakes have no one to remind us of their identity and achievements. The intent is to honor, even if it is just a little, these people who are so worthy of it." 

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