IN THE WORLD TODAY

Israel’s tribute to fallen on Memorial Day

ISRAEL has honoured its soldiers and civilians killed in wars and militant attacks, with air raid sirens wailing nationwide for two minutes and citizens observing a moment of pause for Memorial Day.

Ceremonies and poetry readings were held at cemeteries for the more than 24,000 people lost in Israel’s conflicts, before the occasion turns more festive with parties and military flyovers to kick off Independence Day.

Tomorrow marks Israel’s 74th anniversary.

“Brothers and sisters, if we are not together, we will not be at all. We have no existence as conflicting tribes, rather, only as a varied and united nation,” said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the national Memorial Day service in Jerusalem.

“We are all partners. We are all here together with one fate, with one mission.”

Last week, as Israel remembered the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust, Bennett pleaded for Israelis to refrain from fighting one another even at a time of great division in the fragile government he leads.

He spoke in the context of recent tensions with Palestinians – but also from deeply personal experience. In recent days, his family has received two separate death threats: packages that included live ammunition, demanding he resign.

Bennett said national unity is

Israel’s “duty” to the fallen. Israel has fought half a dozen wars with neighbouring Arab countries, battled two Palestinian uprisings and endured scores of deadly militant attacks since its establishment in 1948.

In addition to the soldiers killed in conflicts, Memorial Day honours more than 3000 people killed in militant attacks.