Ceremony to honor Moroccan Jews who died in sinking of rescue ship

Forty-four Jews were on board, all of whom lost their lives. This will mark the 60th anniversary of the ship's sinking.

Yom HaZikaron Mount Herzl 2 390 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Yom HaZikaron Mount Herzl 2 390
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
The Jewish Agency for Israel will be holding its annual Remembrance Day on Wednesday.
This year there will be a special focus on the sinking of the Egoz ship, which sunk in 1961 on a covert mission to bring back Jews from Morocco.
Forty-four Jews were on board, all of whom lost their lives. This will mark the 60th anniversary of the ship's sinking.
Gila Gutman Azulay, who lost the majority of her family that day, will light a memorial torch to commemorate their deaths and the deaths of those who died defending the State of Israel.
The ship was carrying 43 immigrants back to Israel, in addition to Mossad operative Haim Tzarfati. Half of the immigrants were children.
Some 22 of the bodies were located, but the rest were lost at sea. Those found are all located at Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl Cemetery.
The ceremony will also honor those who perished as a direct result of antisemitic or terror attacks, which since 1948, includes 200 Jews worldwide, according to data from the Jewish Agency for Israel.