A bereaved father speaking at the official Memorial Day ceremony at Mount Herzl on Wednesday launched a sharp rebuke of the state’s leaders for freeing terrorists in exchange for captured soldier Gilad Shalit last October.
Yossi Mendelevich, whose son Yuval was murdered in a terrorist attack in 2003, spoke fiercely against the Shalit deal, in which 1,027 prisoners, collectively responsible for the killing of 569 Israeli civilians, were released from Israeli prisons.
“This year, the grief of Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism was put to a harsh test,” said Mendelevich. “Returning the captive soldier divided the victims and the entire people. The soldier was released, but at what cost? Hamas scored a victory and got a deal others haven’t dreamed of.”
“Is it reasonable,” Mendelevich asked, “that those responsible for a shocking massacre are allowed to celebrate with their families?”
Mendelevich also addressed the discrepancy in the treatment of the families of fallen soldiers and those of civilian casualties, describing it as establishing a “contemptible blood hierarchy.”
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“One day of the year, everyone remembers the terror victims, yet during the rest of the year the people continue to ignore us, as if we didn’t exist.”
Mendelevich’s words were greeted with applause by the audience.
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