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Israeli Memorial Day

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a video address at Israel's 78th Independence Day torch-lighting ceremony in Jerusalem, April 21, 2026 (Video screenshot)
April 22, 2026, 4:44 pm
From grief to trepidation: This year’s fateful transition from Memorial Day to Independence Day
Threatened without and within, Israel will soon have to decide whether Netanyahu is best placed to defeat enemies bent on our destruction, and whether his policies are shaping or wrecking the Israel we need
By David Horovitz
Screen capture from video of a fundraising event that appeared to be held by the Gur Hasidic sect on Israel's Memorial Day eve, April 20, 2026. (X)
April 21, 2026, 6:37 pm
Lavish Hasidic fundraising event held on Memorial Day eve, sparking condemnation
Democrats chair Yair Golan blasts ‘contempt for mutual responsibility’ by ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, says they don’t care about those who fell defending the country
By Sam Sokol
Bereaved families, friends and Israeli soldiers visit the Nova music festival massacre memorial site in Re’im Forest during Israel’s Memorial Day, April 21, 2026. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
April 21, 2026, 6:10 pm
Memorial Day exposes widening rift between public and political leadership
2.5 years of war, a lack of Oct. 7 accountability, and Haredi draft exemptions have turned a day of unity into one of dissent as leaders ask citizens to bear increasingly unbearable costs
By Ariela Karmel
A joint memorial ceremony for bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families held in Tel Aviv in 2025, with the inscription saying both in Hebrew and in Arabic: 'We, who lost our dearest of all, choose to stand, mourn and remember together. And as we do every year, we call for the end of violence and the search for a diplomatic solution that will secure freedom, justice and safety for all.' (Gilli Getz)
April 21, 2026, 3:59 pm
‘Blood only begets blood’: Why these bereaved Oct. 7 families still choose coexistence
Despite facing a hostile public atmosphere, some relatives of Hamas victims battle alongside Palestinian peace activists for political change, finding solace in dialogue
By Omer Sharvit
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a state Memorial Day ceremony commemorating fallen soldiers, at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, April 21, 2026. (Ilia Yefimovich/Pool Photo via AP)
April 21, 2026, 3:50 pm
In bellicose Memorial Day speeches, leaders vow to keep fighting; Netanyahu heckled
Defense minister says Hezbollah leader will ‘pay with his head’; protester interrupts PM when he says he brought back all the hostages from Gaza; Gantz warns of ‘deceptive calm’
By Sam Sokol, Lazar Berman, Charlie Summers and ToI Staff
Mossad chief David Barnea attends a Memorial Day ceremony at the Western Wall, in Jerusalem's Old City, April 20, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 21, 2026, 3:48 pm
Mossad agent ‘Mem,’ who died in 2023, contributed to Iran war success, spy chief reveals
Agent was on boat that capsized in Italy’s Lake Maggiore, during reported meeting between Israeli and Italian spies
By Emanuel Fabian and Lazar Berman
In a photo taken on February 21, 2024, Revital Shamir with her 4-year-old son Lavi and newborn girl Ori are at their home in Havat Yair (Yair's Farm). Revital's husband Mordechai was killed in military service while fighting Hamas terrorists at Kibbutz Re'im on October 7, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
April 21, 2026, 11:27 am
‘He didn’t fall in vain’: On Memorial Day, two young IDF widows discuss life after death
Alma Levin Fridman and Revital Shamir talk about their husbands, families and communities, sharing their grief – and their stories – with the compatriots their partners fought for
By Jessica Steinberg
Police arrest a man suspected of disrupting a Memorial Day event in Lod, April 20, 2026. (Israel Police)
April 21, 2026, 11:25 am
Seven arrested for disrupting ceremonies, tearing down flags during Memorial Day
Cops detain 2 Beit Shemesh men for removing flags, nab mom, 4 kids for interrupting Lod ceremony; no arrests as far-right activists disturb screening of joint Israeli-Palestinian event
By ToI Staff
Varda Morrell lays a photo at the gravesite of her son, IDF Staff Sgt. Maoz Morell, in 2025. (Courtesy Varda Morell via JTA)
April 21, 2026, 5:04 am
‘Another row of graves’: Families of slain soldiers mark Memorial Day in war’s shadow
Mother of squad commander killed in fighting says being with other bereaved parents helps in dealing with son’s death, while another cites comfort of knowing ‘his legacy will live on’
By Deborah Danan
President Isaac Herzog and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir at a Memorial Day ceremony at the Western Wall, April 20, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 20, 2026, 11:22 pm
At Memorial Day ceremony, leaders warn of division, IDF chief says ‘all parts of nation’ must defend it
Netanyahu strikes defiant tone at earlier event, declaring ‘superiority over the Iranian axis’ and vowing that ‘we have not yet finished the work’; Haredi brigade holds ceremony
By Nava Freiberg, Emanuel Fabian, Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Liora Eilon speaks at a joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony in Tel Aviv, April 20, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
April 20, 2026, 10:29 pm
Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day event held in secret amid far-right threats
Tel Aviv location kept quiet over security fears, with parallel ceremony in Jericho; bereaved Israelis and Palestinians share stories of loss from Oct 7, Gaza war, West Bank violence
By Ariela Karmel
At an event for the Youth Creating Memory project, in which musicians work with bereaved families to create songs for those lost since October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
April 20, 2026, 8:01 pm
In Jerusalem, young composers partner with bereaved families to create musical memories
The Tarbut Movement pairs families who lost loved ones on or after Oct. 7, 2023, with local school musical programs to create and record songs commemorating them in the styles they loved
By Jessica Steinberg
Bereaved families lay flowers in memory of their loved ones during a protest and memorial ceremony at Tel Aviv's Habima Square, April 18, 2026. (Naama Zeevi Rivlin / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
April 19, 2026, 12:28 am
‘We won’t let them forget’: Ahead of Memorial Day, Tel Aviv protest demands Oct. 7 inquiry
‘A second Holocaust happened to my family,’ says Ofri Bibas, vowing Netanyahu won’t ‘evade accountability’; bereaved relative accuses government of wanting families to ‘move on’
By Noam Lehmann and ToI Staff
A worker works to prepare military graves for Israel's Memorial Day, in a photo published April 16, 2026. (Defense Ministry)
April 16, 2026, 4:02 pm
170 soldiers added to list of Israel’s fallen since last Memorial Day
In addition, 54 veterans died due to injuries sustained during service, taking total since 1860 to 25,644; ceremonies may be pre-recorded due to wartime guidelines
By Stav Levaton
Israeli flags on graves of fallen soldiers in Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem ahead of Israeli Memorial Day, April 29, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 14, 2026, 11:17 pm
100 bereaved families ask coalition MKs to skip cemetery speeches on upcoming Memorial Day
Relatives reportedly urge lawmakers not to turn their loved ones’ final resting place into a political platform, pan government policies as creating more bereavement
By ToI Staff
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