170 soldiers added to list of Israel’s fallen since last Memorial Day

A total of 170 soldiers were killed during their military service since Israel’s last Memorial Day, according to figures released by the Defense Ministry on Thursday.

Another 54 veterans died due to complications from injuries sustained during their service.

The numbers brought the total to 25,644 people who have died during service to the country since 1860, when Jews left the Jerusalem Old City walls to establish new neighborhoods in the Holy Land.

The annual figures include all soldiers, police and members of other security services who died in the past year, whether in the line of duty, or as a result of an accident, illness or suicide.

There was no fresh tally of terror victims, who are also commemorated on Memorial Day.

The Defense Ministry added that there are currently 59,583 bereaved family members in Israel, including parents, widows, children and siblings of the fallen, with 7,165 relatives added since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.

Israel’s Memorial Day will commence on Monday evening when a one-minute siren will blare across the country. On Tuesday morning, a two-minute siren will sound ahead of national memorial ceremonies at Israel’s 52 military cemeteries.

Memorial Day is one of Israel’s few national, non-religious holidays, during which large swaths of the Israeli public typically visit the graves of loved ones and comrades.

This year, Memorial Day ceremonies at Israel’s military cemeteries will be held in accordance with Home Front Command wartime restrictions due to ongoing security concerns, the Defense Ministry said, and some may be prerecorded if in-person events are banned.

The guidelines are expected to be finalized shortly before the day itself.

“We are completing preparations for Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen and preparing to commemorate the fallen and hold events in accordance with Home Front Command guidelines, out of a desire to strike the right balance between the sanctity of Memorial Day and the sanctity of life,” head of the department for the families of fallen soldiers, commemoration and heritage Aryeh Moalem said in a statement.

“The memory of the fallen is a foundation of our unity,” he added. “Behind every name stand families and great pain, but also a strength that continues to pulse through and connect us all.”

According to the Defense Ministry, preparations are underway at all military cemeteries, at the Bedouin Soldier Memorial Site and at hundreds of burial plots across the country.