IDF chief to bereaved families: Despite distance, we’re all with you

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi notes the difficulty of commemorating Memorial Day in the age of the coronavirus, in a speech at the Western Wall.

“Bereaved families, even now, despite the distance, all of Israel is with you, through all kinds of screens. Every person in their home is stopping, is sympathizing, is dedicating time to the memory of your sons and daughters,” Kohavi says.

“These are complicated times, which bring worry and concern from the lingering danger. The time of a crisis is like the time of a war. It pushes aside the trivial and minor and makes the important things, the ethical things and the sanctity of life stand out,” he says.

In his speech at the ceremony bringing in the Memorial Day, Kohavi warns Israel’s enemies that the military is there to confront them.

“Against enemies and armies of terror who don’t stop harming the citizens of the State of Israel — the IDF is there: ready, powerful and aggressive. We will be there for every mission, prepared and determined, and we see victory as the only way to achieve our goal,” the army chief says.

— Judah Ari Gross