At Tel Hai memorial ceremony, Herzog promises that northern Israel will be fully rehabilitated

Northern Israel will be entirely rebuilt, promises President Isaac Herzog at the memorial ceremony for those who fell in the 1920 Battle of Tel Hai near the Lebanon border.

“I know that we still face enormous challenges,” says Herzog, referring to the widespread destruction of homes and communities during the conflict with Hezbollah that began on October 8, 2023..

“But I have no doubt that we can overcome them and rebuild everything – down to the last furrow. I have no doubt that the north will once again flourish and prosper; and will become a space of security, of hope, of a model for the revival of Israel after long months of fighting,” he says.

The memorial commemorates eight Jewish defenders of the border outpost who were killed in a battle with a Shiite Arab militia, including commander Joseph Trumpeldor who became a seminal figure in Zionist folklore.

Israel, says Herzog, owes the modern-day residents of the north a debt for their resilience and determination to continue working their lands in the face of months of attack.

“We pledge to do everything to continue to repay the supreme moral, Israeli and human debt,” says the president, “to return home all the hostages – civilians and soldiers – to the very last of them.”