Going all out in remembering the fallen
The Hebrew papers move on posthaste on from high profile IDF rifts to prepare for tomorrow’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers
Raoul Wootliff is a former Times of Israel political correspondent and Daily Briefing podcast producer.
The old phrase, “today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper,” refers to the fast-paced nature of the ongoing news-cycle, quickly forgetting once important stories and replacing them each day with fresh and more pressing headlines. What leads the front page today will tomorrow — in British fast food eateries at least — be nothing more than the wrapping for battered piece of cod.
Swiftly rendering yesterday’s Hebrew papers fit only for wrapping a piece of battered cod, Tuesday’s issues move on from heavy coverage of a number of high-profile rifts over controversial statements by and about IDF generals and slip into the traditional pre-Memorial Day melancholy mood, providing readers with numerous stories of heroic soldiers killed in battle.
Of all the papers, Yedioth Aharonoth embraces the task with most fervor, dedicating the first six pages of the paper to accounts of the fallen by parents, friends and comrades.
Israel Hayom also goes full bore with no mention of other news until page five, but instead of solely telling the stories of those killed, the tabloid also offers some reflection on how Israel continues to remember its military dead.
Guest columnist Maj. Gen. Roni Numa writes of his experience with bereavement as an IDF soldier and commander who lost comrades in battle.
“I got to see what bereavement looks like and understand the heavy price we pay for exercising our age-old right to live as a free people in the land of our forefathers,” he writes. “We must embrace the bereaved families and promise to preserve Israel’s independence and its character for eternity.”
Eli Ben Shem, whose son was killed in 1997 when two IDF helicopters collided over northern Israel, writes that in addition to remembering those killed in the past year and the newly bereaved families, “it’s important to think about the past, where thousands of bereaved parents over the age of 80 still live.”
“I am hopeful that we’ll enlist the power of the country so that Israel’s bereaved parents can be filled with pride and satisfaction in their final years. I’m certain that if our fallen sons and daughters were with us today, they would want to see their parents living in a country in which it was possible to grow old in comfort,” he writes.
In both Yedioth and Israel Hayom, the story that led the previous day — backlash spearheaded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against remarks made by the IDF’s second in command, who seemingly likened some parts of Israeli society to Nazi Germany, during a Holocaust commemoration event last week — makes only a small appearance in Tuesday’s editions.
They both run a photo released by the Prime Minister’s Office of the annual toast of the premier and army’s top brass before Independence Day, with all the participants smiling as if nothing had happened.
Israel Hayom, often described as a pro-Netanyahu publication, runs a headline above the photo of the prime minister’s words at the toast that, “The speech is behind us.”
“Less than a week after Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan made controversial remarks in a Holocaust Remembrance Day speech that drew a rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the two shook hands on Monday during a pre-Independence Day toast at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv,” reports the paper, drawing attention to the controversial remarks.
Yedioth Ahronoth on the other hand, often described as an anti-Netanyahu publication, pinpoint’s Netanyahu’s criticism as the point of contention.
“A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu berated Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, he made an effort yesterday to appease him: before the toast he went up to Golan and gave him a warm handshake,” the Yedioth caption reads.
Haaretz also prominently acknowledges the imminent Memorial Day, running a photo of bereaved mothers sitting by the graves of their sons on its front page, but does not get drawn away from the pressing news of the day, even if it sheds a less than favorable light on the army.
Haaretz military correspondent Amos Harel, in a front page analysis, writes that the state comptroller’s report into functioning of political-military leadership highlights some worrisome failings.
“A careful reading of the 64-page draft of the State Comptroller’s Report into 2014’s Operation Protective Edge paints a depressing picture. Naturally, the political arena is preoccupied with the question of which members of the political leadership will come out badly in the report and how the report’s conclusions may affect their futures. But anyone interested in the way decisions are made in Israel – and even more so, in the quality of the decisions themselves – will emerge very worried after reading this report,” he writes.
“Not only does the draft report point to an inherent weakness in the way Israeli policies are made in general, and with regard to Gaza in particular. At times, it seems to predict exactly how Israel will slide into the next round of fighting with Hamas. As the exchange of blows in and around the Gaza Strip last week demonstrated, that outcome may not be far away,” he concludes, in a stark reminder of stakes surrounding this year’s Memorial Day.
