Herzog urges Israelis to set disputes aside in ‘sacred days’ honoring survivors

The Israeli president spoke at the opening ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day.

By JNS

“I appeal to you, citizens of Israel, with a simple prayer: Let us leave these sacred days, which begin tonight and end on Independence Day, above all dispute,” said Israeli President Isaac Herzog. “Let us all come together, as always, in partnership, in grief, in remembrance.”

Herzog spoke at the state opening ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day 2023 at Yad Vashem on April 17.

He referred to the time, culminating with Israel’s 75th Independence Day next week, as one of “majesty, mercy and truth,” during which “we can truly hear the heartbeats of an entire nation, standing before their ‘Days of Awe.’ ”

He cited many of the Nazi atrocities, including the aim to create a museum in France of the extinct and inferior Jewish race. “My sisters and brothers, with human courage and divine assistance, the Allies overcame the forces of tyranny,” he said. “With human courage and Divine assistance, spirit triumphed; the spirit of our people, who raised themselves up with scarred wings from the gruesome depths of the Holocaust. It was this spirit that triumphed.”

Seventy-five years ago, there was a “miracle” of rebirth and of light triumphing over darkness, said Herzog, calling Holocaust survivors heroes of resurrection who “serve us as a source of inspiration and hope. Every day, including now.”