At Sderot cemetery, Gantz says more fighting to follow ‘deceptive calm’

Despite the current “deceptive calm,” there will be more fighting ahead, requiring Israelis to stand together and overcome their internal disagreements, declares Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz at a Memorial Day ceremony at the Sderot military cemetery.

The best way to remember those who died defending Israel is to “embrace every soldier in the standing army and the reserves and wrap the bereaved families in our support. We remember them all when we rise above the disputes that tear us apart and unite. We remember them all when we cling to the land and continue to live and fulfill the Zionist vision. We remember when we continue to fight and prevent our enemies from achieving their ambition to destroy us,” he says.

Gantz warns that while Israelis have already gone through two and a half years of war, “unfortunately, many more challenges await us in the near future.”

“The deceptive calm will still require us to continue fighting — in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Judea and Samaria, and Yemen. We will prevail over our enemies if we are united among ourselves,” he continues, praising the residents of Sderot and the wider south for fighting back against Hamas on October 7, calling the city “an “example and model of how strong we are, how willing we are to fight for our place and our future.”