The national Memorial Day ceremony began on Monday morning at 11:02a.m. at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, immediately following the two-minute siren marking a moment of silence for Israel's fallen and those murdered in terror attacks.
Attending the Mount Herzl ceremony are Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
Speaking at the ceremony, Netanyahu said, "Our national home is standing - our country is standing, and it is standing thanks to you. But at the same time, the sorrow is terrible and heartbreaking. Dear families, our loved ones who fell in battle, and in all the battles of Israel, the battles of renewal, represent eternal values. It is either Israel or the Hamas monsters. It is either existence, freedom, security, and prosperity - or it is massacre, rape, and servitude."
He added, "We are determined to win this battle. But the price that we are paying - the price that previous generations have paid - is very heavy. There is no comfort. There is life, but the wound will remain until the end of our lives. Our War of Independence has not yet ended - it continues even now."
This Memorial Day, Israel remembers 25,040 fallen, among them 760 who have fallen since last year, 711 of whom fell since the start of the war with Hamas on October 7. According to the National Insurance Institute, 5,100 civilians have been murdered in terror attacks, 834 of them since October 7.