The State of Israel came to a standstill on Wednesday morning at 11 am for 120 seconds as the Memorial Day siren wailed its message of pain throughout the country.
The siren is sounded each year at 8 pm for 60 seconds at the start of the Day of Remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror, and again the next morning for two minutes as Israel pays tribute to its fallen on “Yom HaZikaron.”
The siren came at the start of the state ceremony held to honor the 23,645 members of the IDF and all security forces who have given their lives to protect the people of Israel since 1948. A separate ceremony was scheduled for later in the day for the 3,134 victims of terrorism who have died since the rebirth of the state.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hyut and Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh joined bereaved families in attending the ceremony at Mount Herzl.
Some one and a half million people are expected to visit the country’s military cemeteries on this day.