In Memorial Day speech, Israeli President Herzog calls for unity: 'The siren is a true alarm commanding us to come together'

In his speech at the official ceremony marking Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers of the IDF and victims of terror, President Isaac Herzog tonight (Tuesday) called for national unity. "I have met thousands of bereaved families who asked for one thing – to lower the flames and preserve our unity as one people," he said.

"Every year, the sound of this siren — here, by the Wailing Wall, and throughout the country — shakes and stirs the heart. It is the voice of heroism and inner strength. It is our voice, all of us. The voice of every shade of our people. The voice that always reminds us where we came from and where we are headed," Herzog began his speech.

"This year, perhaps more than ever, the sound of the memorial siren is also a true alarm, commanding us to unite and come together. Not to be torn apart from within. Not to destroy our home."

Similar to his speech on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Herzog tonight also addressed the hostages held in Gaza directly: "A whole nation is incomplete without you, worries for you, cries out your cry. A whole nation is tormented endlessly. A whole nation knows — in every fiber of its soul, scorched with longing and concern — that the wound will not heal until you return. Until you return to us."

Herzog concluded his speech with a call not to drag political disputes into the defense establishment: "I call to keep the IDF out of the disputes that tear us apart. To keep the Shin Bet, the police, the Mossad, and all our security and homeland security forces out of any controversy. Especially at this time, we must strengthen the hands of the defenders of our holy land, as the prayer says — and not, heaven forbid, the opposite."

Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir addressed the IDF’s manpower crisis in his speech: "The IDF, the people's army, is committed to fulfilling its missions, and now, more than ever, we need everyone. It is an operational necessity and at the same time a national need for equality and unity of destiny. I call on everyone to get under the stretcher in our people’s shared historic journey toward independence, freedom, and security," he said.

In his remarks, the chief of staff addressed the families of the hostages, saying: "The faces of your loved ones are constantly before my eyes. Our highest national moral duty is to bring the hostages home. We will not rest and we will not be silent. We will continue to act in every way until we complete this sacred mission."

"We must remember — we are in a multi-front war for the very existence of the State of Israel. Iran and its proxies have launched a war. They seek to destroy the Zionist idea and deny our right to live here as a free and sovereign people. Our enemies misjudged our response. Hamas too is mistaken in underestimating our resolve to bring back the hostages and to defeat it. These two missions are intertwined. We will intensify our operations until we accomplish both."