Israel remembers Holocaust victims
TEL AVIV: Israelis stood still yesterday for a nationwide moment of silence in remembrance of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
A twominute siren wailed across the country and the nation paid respects to those systematically killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators in World War 2.
As happens every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day, buses and cars came to a halt as Israelis stepped out of their vehicles, standing with heads bowed in solemn remembrance.
The sombre day is also marked by ceremonies and memorials at schools and community centres.
Restaurants and cafes in the ordinarily bustling streets of Tel Aviv close, and TV and radio stations play Holocaustthemed programmes.
Dignitaries laid wreaths at Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.
A third of the world’s Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
Israel was established afterwards in 1948, and hundreds of thousands of survivors fled to the Jewish state.
On Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a Holocaust memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem and warned Iran should not test Israel amid rising tensions in Syria.
‘‘Events of recent days teach that standing up to evil and aggression is a mission imposed on every generation,’’ Netanyahu said.
‘‘Today as well, a murderous regime threatens us, threatens entire world peace, this regime explicitly declares that it intends to annihilate us, the Jewish state,’’ he said, alluding to Iran. — BPA