A new memorial honoring more than 23,000 fallen IDF soldiers was unveiled ahead of Memorial Day, when the official dedication will take place.
The unveiling of a newly constructed national Hall of Remembrance for Fallen Soldiers took place Thursday, ahead of Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror.
The official dedication of the hall, located at the national cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, will be held on Yom Hazikaron, which begins Sunday evening, after sunset, according to the Hebrew calendar.
The hall, located at the national cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, is just under 60 feet in height. Comprised of 23,544 bricks, each bears the name of a fallen IDF soldier with a memorial light that will be kindled each year on the anniversary of the soldier’s death.
“The Hall of Remembrance will allow for a personal and collective experience of commemoration and is an expression of the country’s moral obligation to remember every single one of its fallen. It is the only structure in the country that physically commemorates all of Israel’s fallen, from all of its wars, on its very walls,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Dignitaries in attendance included, among others, President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman.
“Memory does not only mean remembering the past. The secret of the power of Israel’s memory is continuity,” Rivlin told the assembled. “We promise to treasure the past, but with the same determination and persistence, love and hope, we also promise to treasure and create a future.”
Israeli actor Natan Datner called the memorial a “holy temple” that represents the fallen soldiers’ “100 percent heroism, service, and values.”
Construction of the memorial began in January 2015 and has cost $25 million.
By: United with Israel Staff
With files from JNS.org and TPS
