The official Memorial Day ceremony begins at the Western Wall, where top military officials and the president gather to remember fallen, without an audience and with all present wearing masks and observing social distancing.
President Reuven Rivlin’s voice cracks as he begins his televised speech, while addressing the bereaved families who cannot attend.
“This year, you are alone in your rooms, listening to the echoes of their voices. We cannot come to your homes, we cannot stand alongside you at the military cemeteries. We cannot embrace you,” he says.
The siren “shatters the silence and breaks our hearts,” he says.
President Reuven Rivlin wears a protective mask during the national opening ceremony for Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, April 27, 2020. (video screenshot)
Addressing the pandemic, he says, “And suddenly, it seems the world is moving more slowly.”
The isolation, he says, amplifies “what is gone, the vacuum, the missing, the pain.”
Participants wear masks at the national opening ceremony for Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, April 27, 2020. (video screenshot)
“What is with you, beloved families?” he asks, addressing the bereaved.
“I know… you don’t need this Memorial Day to remember… Today is for us, so that we can — even for a moment — get to know the names and the faces, the lives and the stories of the sons and daughters of this country, of your beloveds, which will become ours.”
“This year, we can’t cry together. This year, we can’t look into your eyes.”
But Israel will remember “the unfathomable price” that was paid in human lives for Israel to exist, he promises.
