Defense Minister Benny Gantz spoke at the name reading ceremony on Mount Herzl Wednesday morning. Gantz opened the ceremony by reading all the names of IDF soldiers killed this year.
"As public leaders, we have a responsibility to set aside disputes related to bereavement and Yom Hazikaron, and simply embrace and remember the fallen," remarked the Defense Minister after reading the names, "Israeli society deserves one issue that we will all treat reverently."
He added, "the massive price paid by the bereaved families and the whole of Israeli society is also our driving force to continue to live, to do good, to repair, to come together, to preserve camaraderie and mutual responsibility."
The Defense Minister concluded by saying, "[the bereaved families] are the ones who paid the price for our resistance and existence. We will embrace them in our hearts, and thus we will protect Israeli society, heritage, memory and unity.
After the 11 a.m. siren, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made his remarks. He emphasized that "if we will not be together, we will not be at all," and asserted that "our enemies are rooted in poverty and a sense of misery, while we have built a flourishing, strong and optimistic country here."
