Ben Gvir rebuffs last-ditch pleas to skip Memorial Day event at Beersheba cemetery

Despite calls from bereaved families to stay away, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was adamant Monday that he is keeping plans to attend Memorial Day commemorations at the Beersheba Military Cemetery the next day, amid reported last-ditch efforts to convince the far-right lawmaker to change course.

With societal frictions inflamed over the government’s controversial push to remake the judicial system, some relatives of fallen soldiers have urged members of the ruling coalition who did not serve in the military to nix their participation in Memorial Day events.

While a number declared they were doing so, Ben Gvir — who never served in the army after being rejected for extremist activists in his youth — has remained defiant.

There are also concerns that the appearance by the firebrand politician could invite protests and distract from the day’s solemnity for Israel’s fallen soldiers, police, terror victims and others. The far-right lawmaker, among the most divisive members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet and long regarded as an extremist on the fringes of acceptable discourse, has a history of criminal convictions, including for racial incitement and supporting a terror group.

According to Channel 12 news, Yad Labanim chairman Eli Ben-Shem and other figures were lobbying Ben Gvir to refrain from participating in the event Tuesday, suggesting he instead visit another cemetery or take part in the annual memorial for fallen police officers.

“You’re the minister. That’s where you should be,” Ben-Shem pleaded during an appearance on Channel 12 news. “Instead, you are choosing to go to Beersheba, where, yes, there are families who want you, but lots of families who do not.”

Ben Gvir rebuffed them, however, with his office quoted as saying, “Nothing will prevent or stop” him from attending.

“You can’t help but infer that Ben Gvir is coming to start fires and isn’t interested in broadcasting reconciliation on this day,” an unnamed source familiar with the matter told the network.

Meanwhile, a veteran wounded in fighting during the 1973 Yom Kippur War indicated plans to confront Ben Gvir at the Beersheba cemetery.

“You still do not know me personally, but tomorrow we will have the opportunity to get to know each other up close,” Yoel Sharon wrote in a letter to Ben Gvir, according to Channel 12.

“I am not coming to the meeting alone. Together with me will be 16 soldiers who unfortunately did not return with me from Egypt during the Yom Kippur War. Four of them — Ilan, Yossi, Yehuda and Shlomo — are buried here in Beersheba.” he added.

“Please, don’t destroy this sacred day for the ‘anarchists,'” Sharon said in reference to Ben Gvir’s denunciations of those taking part in the month-long protests against the judicial overhaul.

“Lay a wreath and see the beauty and power of the nation that you and your friends in the government insist on dividing and destroying,” he added.

Alongside the calls for Ben Gvir and others not to attend the ceremonies, some bereaved families have said they will visit the graves of their loved ones before Memorial Day to avoid the government ministers.

Last week, Ben-Shem said thousands of bereaved parents had demanded that politicians not attend or speak at Memorial Day ceremonies at military cemeteries. The Yad Labanim chair warned that verbal and even physical confrontations could break out at military cemeteries if government ministers and MKs — particularly those who did not serve in the IDF — attend Memorial Day events at the sensitive sites.

Public figures, including military chief Herzi Halevi and top political leaders, have increasingly urged both the public and elected officials to keep the solemn day free of politics.

Israel’s Memorial Day will begin 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.

Fifty-nine soldiers were killed during their military service since Israel’s last Memorial Day, according to figures released by the Defense Ministry on Friday.

Another 86 disabled veterans died due to complications from injuries sustained during their service. The numbers brought the total to 24,213 of those who have died during service to the country since 1860.