Parents of fallen IDF soldiers are pleading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow them access to military cemeteries on Israel’s Memorial Day next week.
The Defense Ministry is weighing closing the cemeteries to all visitors over fears of a virus outbreak at the sites, which are generally full on Memorial Day.
“Banning bereaved parents from going to the graves of their sons on Memorial Day is cruel,” Irit Shachar, whose son Omri was killed in a car accident in 2012 during his military service, tells Army Radio. “I am in favor of canceling the entry to others, but I can’t [not go], it would just be the death of me.”
The head of the Yad L’Banim organization told Channel 12 on Sunday he’s received hundreds of complaints from bereaved parents over the government’s proposal, including some who threatened to clash with security forces guarding the cemeteries.
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