Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday addressed State Memorial Ceremony marking 50 years of the Yom Kippur War. During his address the President said, “Especially now, we must learn the lessons and truly understand that the internal threat within Israel is the most acute and dangerous threat of all. Only yesterday, in the midst of the holiest day, exactly fifty years after the outbreak of war, we saw in the first Hebrew city of all places. a shocking and painful example of how the internal struggle within us can escalate and become extreme.” He continued, “I know that I speak for the absolute majority of Israeli citizens when I express deep sorrow and shock at the sight of our own people fighting one another on a day that has always been a symbol of unity, and the of beauty, inclusivity and respectful nature of Israel and Judaism. I am horrified by the very sight, by the very thought, of people who either have family or they themselves fought side by side - brothers in arms, shoulder to shoulder in outposts, in tanks, in the bloody fields of the Sinai and the Golan, and now they are struggling in the heart of Tel Aviv, during the holy moments of the Yom Kippur prayers.” The President added, “How did we get to this terrible situation? That fifty years after that bitter war, sisters and brothers stand on either side of the barricade? Those who pour fuel onto this fire are a real threat to Israeli unity. It has to stop here and now. The division, the polarization, the never-ending disputes - they are a real danger to Israeli society and the security of the State of Israel. The enemies of Israel express themselves about this repeatedly and refer to the internal crisis within us as the beginning of the end of the State of Israel; and even though they are completely wrong, we must come to our senses, lower our tone, listen, reach out, and by talking and agreeing, end the internal crisis we are in.” He concluded, “These are not just empty words, but a historical obligation. Heaven forbid, historians and leaders will look at these days 50 years from now, and see the terrible price this rupture exacted from us, and ask: 'How did they not understand the magnitude of the danger and the depth of the abyss? After all, it was right in front of their eyes.'”
