National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Israel Police Independence Day ceremony in Jerusalem April 20, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
The head of a memorial organization for fallen Israeli soldiers pleads with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir not to attend a Memorial Day ceremony in Beersheba.
Eli Ben Shem, chairman of Yad Labanim, has repeatedly warned that there could be chaos and even violence at official Memorial Day commemorations next week, given deep societal divisions over the government’s plans to overhaul the judicial system, with Ben Gvir, particularly divisive.
Eli Ben Shem, chairman of Yad Labanim, the memorial organization for fallen Israeli soldiers, pictured at the start of Israel’s Memorial Day, at a ceremony at the Western Wall, on April 24, 2023. (Kan TV screenshot)
Ben Shem, speaking to Channel 12, suggests Ben Gvir instead attend a ceremony to commemorate “over 1,800 police who fell.”
“You’re the minister. That’s where you should be. Instead, you are choosing to go to Beersheba, where, yes, there are families who want you, but lots of families who don’t,” he says.
“Respect the will of the families, so that the [bereaved] families can mark the day unified and respectfully,” he asks.
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Monday, April 24, 2023
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