42 soldiers and civilians killed since last Memorial Day, taking total to 23,816
In addition, 33 disabled veterans passed away due to injuries sustained during their service; official numbers published ahead of commemoration events
Forty two soldiers and civilians were killed since last Memorial Day and the number of Israeli casualties of war stands at 23,816, according to figures released by the Defense Ministry on Friday.
Since last Memorial Day, 75 new names were added to the roster of those who died defending the country since 1860.
Forty-two were IDF soldiers, police officers and civilians, and 33 were disabled veterans who passed away due to complications from injuries sustained during their service.
The figures include all soldiers and police who died during their service over the past year, including as a result of accidents, suicide or illness.
Israel’s Memorial Day will commence Tuesday evening when a one-minute siren will ring out across the country as the country marks the annual event amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, the Defense Ministry announced that national Memorial Day ceremonies would take place without audiences and that the smaller events planned for municipal cemeteries across the country would be canceled outright out of fear of coronavirus outbreaks.
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.
The police will not physically enforce an order banning bereaved families from cemeteries who wish to visit the graves of their loved ones on Memorial Day next week, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said Wednesday.
The comment came after the cabinet voted in favor of severely limiting commemorations and celebrations of Israel’s independence and memorial days and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in the latest bid to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Families have been encouraged to visit the graves of fallen soldiers over the next few days to avoid crowding on Memorial Day, but some families have vowed to defy the order.
According to the minister, while police will set up roadblocks to deter access to the cemeteries, if families are determined to enter, physical force will not be used to stop them.
“Nuclear families alone can visit the cemetery from this morning, Wednesday morning, until Sunday night, whenever they wish, while observing the accepted distancing rules,” Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.
“It’s a painful decision, but it’s necessary. The decision was made after consulting with the head of Yad Labanim,” the largest bereaved family organization in Israel, he added. The head of the organization said he does not think many families will break lockdown rules in order to pay their respects.
“This was a very, very difficult decision, but it was necessary as every year some 1.5 million people visit cemeteries, many of them elderly,” Bennett told reporters.“This would have been a coronavirus time bomb.”
Bennett said he hoped that the precautions will not be necessary and that family and friends will not try to visit the cemeteries, but added that if they do, police officers would show the utmost restraint.
While Bennett said bereaved relatives would not be physically restrained from entering, he added, “We expect that people won’t come.”
On Independence Day, which begins Tuesday evening and ends Wednesday evening, a general curfew will be in effect requiring people to remain within 100 meters of their homes — except for medical needs — and banning intercity travel, similar to the curfew earlier this month for Passover. Supermarkets will not be open to the public.
The Independence Day curfew will begin at 5 p.m. on April 28 and end at 8 p.m. the next day.
