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Israel’s Memorial Day begins at sundown with 1-minute siren

A one-minute memorial siren will sound at 8:00 p.m. throughout the country, signaling the start of official ceremonies.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s ‘Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of the Wars of Israel and Victims of Actions of Terrorism’ begins at sundown on Tuesday.

A one-minute memorial siren will sound at 8:00 p.m. throughout the country. Memorial ceremonies will begin immediately afterwards.

The main ceremony will take place at the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem. President Reuven Rivlin, Chief of Staff Lt. Col. Aviv Kochavi, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon, and other officials will attend. Five hundred people are expected to participate.

The total number of casualties in Israel, from 1860 to this year’s Memorial Day, is 23,928. The number of civilians killed in hostilities since the state was declared in 1948 is 3,158.

Two civilians were killed since last Memorial Day. They are Esther Horgan, who was beaten to death near her Samaria home, and Rabbi Shai Ohayon, who was stabbed while walking home in central Israel.

On Wednesday, at 11:00 a.m., a two-minute memorial siren will sound, signaling the start of official memorial services at 52 military cemeteries across the country and at memorial sites. During the two-minute siren, citizens of Israel stand, cars come to a stop and all business ceases.

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At 1:00 p.m., a state ceremony will take place at the Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial on Mount Herzl to honor the memory of terror victims.

Names of all the victims of Israel’s wars runs on a number of Israeli channels from Tuesday sundown through Wednesday.

Due to Covid-19, the Ministry of Defense has asked that only families who have lost loved ones visit cemeteries. The ministry’s official memorial website has added virtual candles this year. Lighting memorial candles is a traditional way Israelis mark the somber day.