Herzog at state ceremony: Israelis have wept for a year, but will rise together

Looking back on “a full year of fracture and pain” during the government’s pre-recorded state ceremony, President Isaac Herzog says that “until my last day, I will be haunted by the smell of burnt bodies and the sight of pools of blood, alongside family photos and children’s books, in a paradise turned into Hell.”

Riffing on the Rosh Hashanah prayer of “Unetaneh Tokef,” Herzog says that Israelis “have wept for a year: who by fire and who by strangulation; who by sword and who by beast; who at their doorstep, and who in their safe-room; who in the greenhouse and who in the street; who at the outpost and who on the battlefield; who at the bus stop and who at the police station; who in the car and who in the shelter; who on the paths of the kibbutz and who at the music festival; who by missiles and rockets, who in tunnels, and who in hiding.”

“For a year now, in an abominable crime against humanity, our brothers and sisters have been held captive by murderers; and their voices cry out to us from beneath the earth — not far from here — pleading,” he continues, arguing that “the sanctity of life, which flows in our veins as a nation, obligates us, especially the leadership, to fulfill the highest human, Jewish, and Israeli commandment: to bring them home. Some for recovery and homecoming, and some for a fitting burial.”

“For a year now, many of our brothers and sisters have been displaced from their homes — in the north and in the south. Together with you all, I offer strength to the IDF and the security forces on all fronts, and I pray for the swift recovery and rehabilitation of those wounded in body and soul,” he adds.

Turning to bereaved families, Herzog says that he “bows my head in gratitude and reverence, hoping you will yet know healing and comfort.”

He says that 2024 has also “been a year in which we are filled to the brim with faith and pride. A year of witnessing the civil and military heroism of men and women who, with unimaginable resourcefulness and dedication, saved lives, families, and communities.”

Praising the “indomitable Israeli spirit,” Herzog promises that “we will continue to build, and we will reap with joy what we have sown in tears.”

“Elderly men and women will once again sit in the gardens of homes in the Western Negev, and the streets of the Galilee communities will once again be filled with children playing. We will rise together, only together, and this love, sanctified in blood, will once again bloom among us,” he declares.