The government honored two Anglo brothers who made aliya and fell during their
IDF service in Tuesday night’s Remembrance Day ceremony at the
Knesset.
As a part of the official memorial ceremony, a short documentary
was aired about Adam and Gideon Weiler, who immigrated to Israel from
Johannesburg with their parents and four siblings in 1957 and were killed in the
War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War, respectively.
Maj. Adam Weiler
enlisted in the IDF in 1962, and interrupted studies at the University of Sussex
to return to Israel and fight in the Six Day War in 1967. He was killed in 1970
at age 26, while serving as a tanks company commander near the Suez
Canal.
Maj. Gideon Weiler enlisted in the IDF in 1968, joining the
Armored Corps, like his brother.
When Adam was killed in the War of
Attrition, Gideon was made a tanks instructor, but was moved to fight in the
Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur War. Gideon was killed at age 23, on the third
day of the Yom Kippur War, in a battle with Syrian tanks.
Another
documentary was aired about Gad Marsheh, who made aliya from Ethiopia in 1981
and served as the first Jewish tracker in the IDF. He died in 2000 at age 29,
while trying to neutralize a bomb in southern Gaza.
Over 3,000 people
gathered in the third annual national Remembrance Day ceremony at the Knesset,
titled “Singing in their Memory.” The ceremony was held in the plaza in front of
the Knesset, and sponsored by the Knesset, Defense Ministry and Welfare and
Social Services Ministry.
In addition to documentaries about the fallen,
the ceremony at the Knesset featured singers David Broza, Udi Davidi, Lior
Narkis, Netanella, Kabra Kasai and Pablo Rosenberg performing classic Israeli
songs in honor of those who died in battle. IDF bands and Chief IDF Cantor Shai
Abramson joined in the performances.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin,
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Welfare and Social Services Minister Moshe Kahlon,
Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Yair Naveh, Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen Yohanan
Danino and others read poetry by and about fallen soldiers, and told the stories
behind each one.