Honoring soldiers, Herzog says they have fought ‘battles future generations will study’

President Isaac Herzog said Wednesday at the annual Independence Day event honoring outstanding IDF soldiers that they had “surpassed” their forebears and were acting as exemplars for future generations.

The event revolved around the battles Israel’s military has fought over the two and a half years since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught sparked a war on several fronts. The ceremony at the Presidential Residence in Jerusalem included a performance by Alon Ohel, who was released from Gaza captivity late last year after 738 days, as well as Dvir Bublil, a soldier wounded in fighting on October 7.

And in an address, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the military was prepared to return to fighting if ceasefires in Lebanon and Iran collapse.

Wednesday was the first Independence Day since the last hostages, living and dead, were brought back to Israel from Gaza. Among the soldiers being honored was former hostage Cpl. Mia Leimberg, who was held by Hamas for 53 days and later drafted to the Israeli Air Force’s Ofek technology development unit. Her mother Gabriela Leimberg and uncle Fernando Marman, both also former hostages, were in attendance, as were fellow freed hostages Gadi Mozes and Margalit Mozes.

“A year ago we prayed and hoped, and thank God we have no more hostages anywhere,” Herzog said in his speech at the start of the ceremony.

Addressing the honored troops, he said: “Outstanding soldiers in a normal year study the battles of the past — but you are fighting the battles that future generations will study.”

“It is simply unbelievable what you have gone through in the past two and a half years. We all grew up on stories of heroism — but this generation surpasses them all,” said Herzog.

“Even at these very moments, alongside the outstanding soldiers, there are tens of thousands of our finest sons and daughters on many fronts, defending us all,” he said.

Of the 120 soldiers honored, 69 were men and 51 were women. Sixty-seven serve in combat roles, two serve in combat support roles, and 51 serve in noncombat positions. Eighteen are officers.

A centerpiece of the ceremony was a joint piano performance by Ohel and Bublil of Yehudit Ravitz’s “Song Without a Name,” which came to be associated with Ohel while he was being held hostage. His mother Idit had asked people to listen to the song, a favorite of his, as a way of sending strength to her son.

“I was there 50 meters underground, my legs tied up, looking literally like a corpse — and I could only dream of moments like these, sitting here on Independence Day and playing in front of you,” Ohel told the crowd on Wednesday. “To pass the time, I would imagine myself sitting on a stage exactly like this one and singing… and here it is happening, I’m here on this stage.”

The freed hostage said that while in captivity, he had no idea what was going on in Israel, “and to come back and discover that they never stopped fighting for me — it’s just insane… so now to sit here and play — this is closure for me.”

Alon Ohel sings at the President’s Residence Independence Day ceremony. (Elad Malka)

Bublil, who was seriously wounded while fighting in southern Israel on October 7, said that when he woke up from his injury, he learned that nine of his friends had been killed and that 251 hostages had been taken. “You’re not responsible, but you feel like you’ve failed. You didn’t protect the country and people that you don’t even know but that you love, because you’re part of the nation.”

He added: “In the end, thank God, I recovered, and I’m still recovering. I’ve managed to return to playing. Not like before yet. And I say ‘not yet’ intentionally, — because it will be like before.”