Fallen soldiers group protests musicians’ Memorial Day gig

Planned performances by prominent Israeli musicians Ivri Lider and Izhar Ashdot at a Memorial Day concert have provoked the ire of families who lost members in Israeli wars.

An organization of families of fallen soldiers on Tuesday protested the scheduled performances of the two musicians at Tel Aviv’s municipal Yom Hazikaron memorial day ceremony because of the artists’ alleged inappropriate stances toward the IDF.

In a petition filed with the Tel Aviv municipality, Yad Lebanim chairman Eli Ben-Shem asked city hall to reconsider featuring Ashdot and Lider at a concert in memory of fallen soldiers and terror victims because of the former’s song comparing IDF soldiers to habitual killers and the latter’s only-partial IDF service.

Israel’s Memorial Day is observed on Sunday night and Monday.

According to the letter, the families of the bereaved were outraged by the’s decision to engage Ashdot because “his song ‘A matter of habit’ insults the memory of the fallen.”

As of Tuesday night, City Hall didn’t intend to cancel either appearances, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. The paper quoted the municipality saying in response that Lider continues to perform reserve army duty and that Ashdot said his lyrics never meant to insult soldiers or the memory of the fallen.

Ashdot reacted to the charge against him saying, “Like many Israeli citizens, the loss [of the fallen] returned and controlled my family over the years. I consider it an honor to participate in the Memorial Day for IDF soldiers in Tel Aviv.”