Bar David addresses upcoming Memorial Day and Independence Day

Adi Marcus

May 12, 2024

This evening, the annual commemoration ceremonies for the fallen soldiers and the victims of terror will take place, as Israelis will mention the national Memorial Day that precedes our Independence Day. With seven months passed since the October 7 attack and the death of hundreds of Israelis, grief will be widespread. In preparation for this evening, The Chairman of the Histadrut, Arnon Bar-David, released a video statement to our members:

“Dear members of the Histadrut,

For weeks now, I have been thinking about our upcoming meeting with this year’s Memorial Day.

The very thought of the unimaginable number of families who have joined the ranks of the bereaved fills my heart with sadness and terrible worry.

From tonight and for the next 24 hours, the country will fall silent and be immersed in a sea of tears and longing.

We will mourn the memory of our loved ones and remember our debt to the fallen.

Thanks to their strength of spirit and selflessness, our country continues to be built and mature. But they will remain young forever.

Seven months have passed since October 7th, and even today, fighting continues on several fronts.

About a hundred thousand citizens of the country are still displaced from their homes, thousands of wounded in body and soul are in the process of rehabilitation, new orphans are learning to grow up with a hole in their hearts, and our brothers and sisters are still being held by the cursed terrorists in Gaza.

The current situation is causing many to think about the future, not only about how we will avenge and recover from the war, but also how we will restore public trust in our country’s leaders.

Returning the hostages home is the first necessary step in healing the nation.

A little bit of light, they say, drives away a lot of darkness, and that may be the essence of the connection between Independence Day and Memorial Day.

The sharp, too sharp, transition that consumes us every year will not be skipped this time either.

The 76th Independence Day of the State of Israel will meet us in a period that has left little room for joy.

The nation is in a deep crisis with fresh trauma on its shoulders, but the spirit is the same spirit that cannot be broken—a spirit of hope, of resurrection against all odds, a spirit of clinging to tomorrow.

The pain that we will all share this Memorial Day is the needle in the historical compass of the State of Israel.

Together, we will continue to fight for the sanctity of life and the right to a life of dignity, freedom, and honest labor as we promised ourselves in the Declaration of Independence.

I wish all the people of Israel that we will celebrate the upcoming Independence Day with the good news of the return of our hostages.”