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By Itzhak Rabihiya

President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today, Thursday 10 October at the memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Yom Kippur War, 46 years later, and placed a wreath in their memory. The ceremony was held at the Hall of Remembrance at Har Herzl cemetery and was attended by the families of the fallen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Speaker of the Knesset Yoel (Yuli) Edelstein and Commander of the IDF Northern Corps Maj. Gen. Yaakov Banjo.

At the beginning of his remarks, the president expressed his deep shock at the terrible murders in the anti-Semitic attack in Germany yesterday during Yom Kippur, the holiest and most significant day for all Jews around the world. “I call on Germany’s leadership, and later today I will speak with my friend the German President on the subject, to wage a tough and uncompromising war on anti-Semitism and its consequences. We will continue to campaign for Holocaust education and remembrance as anti-Semitism rears its head again and again in Europe and across the world, in the understanding that anti-Semitism is not only a Jewish problem, but that it threatens to destroy us all.”

"46 years have passed since the wail of the sirens interrupted the sanctity of Yom Kippur, and the terrifying alarm spread across the country,” said the president and continued, "anyone who was old enough on October 6th, 1973 remembers that moment. From the purity of Yom Kippur, the silent streets and the hushed prayers in synagogue, we went to the pickup points. And from there to the battlefields, to the bloody, terrible war.”

“The Yom Kippur War was a breaking point, leaving its mark on the State of Israel, the IDF and Israeli society. There is a reason that we are unable to stop the endless picking at the wounds of the Yom Kippur War. We must learn from history. We must never be surprised again like that. Even if the nature of the wars has changed, the lesson of the Yom Kippur War is that we must always be critical in our thinking, always question every premise, look at reality straight on and bravely, and make sure that we are not bound by misconceptions whose price is paid in blood. We must be alert, not to succumb to complacency. To look out for warning signs, to be aware of the gathering dangers and to be ready to move quickly. In addition, we bear a heavy responsibility to do everything in regards to training, equipment and operational readiness so that IDF soldiers and commanders can carry out their mission when the day comes. To be prepared for any scenario. And at the same time, to know the limitations of power. To take the initiative and to ensure that our security and our political destination horizon is in our own hands, to ensure the safety and security of the State of Israel.”

At the end of his remarks, the president spoke about to the fallen of the Yom Kippur War. "You have paid the price," said the president to the bereaved families. “46 years after the war, I know there is no cure for such loss. The time that has passed does not dull the pain. Every year when we meet here, I look at you. Old faces with wrinkles filled with memories. But with them are new, young faces. Nephews, nieces, grandchildren, granddaughters, generations born after the war, who did not know the grandfather or the uncle that fell. They are young but they already remember. All we can give our sons and daughters who have paid with their lives is memory. Their memory lives with us and always will do. The State of Israel is committed to the return of IDF soldiers who fell in the Yom Kippur War and whose burial place is unknown, and will do everything possible to bring them for burial in Israel. May the memory of the fallen of the Yom Kippur War be engraved in our hearts forever.”

Also Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the Hall of Remembrance on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem. “The current focus of aggression in the Middle East is the Iranian regime in Tehran. Iran is striving to tighten its grip in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Gaza Strip. It is relentlessly arming itself. It is equipping its proxies with dangerous weaponry. It is attacking freedom of navigation in international shipping lanes. It downed a large American UAV. It mounted a crude and unprecedented attack on Saudi oil fields. It has repeatedly crossed its threshold of brazenness.  

Iran threatens to wipe us off the map. It says explicitly: ‘Israel will disappear.’ It has tried to attack us repeatedly; therefore, we must stand ready to defend ourselves against danger.

We do not aspire to be ‘a people that dwells alone’ but thus we were forced to stand at the start of the Yom Kippur War; only towards the end did the American aid arrive. Like in 1973, today we very much appreciate the important support of the US, which has greatly increased in recent years, as well as the major economic pressure that the US is using on Iran.

Even so, we will always remember and implement the basic rule that has guided us; Israel will defend itself, by itself, against any threat. The IDF is prepared to pre-empt any threat, defensively and offensively, with crushing strength, in weaponry and in spirit. This is the tremendous spirit that was instilled in us by the generation of the Yom Kippur War.”

Attached photo credit: Koby Gideon (GPO)