Ahead Of Memorial Day 5785: The Number Of Israel’s Fallen Stands At 25,417
The Ministry of Defense published on Friday morning (25th) ahead of Memorial Day for Israel’s Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Hostile Acts, an updated tally of fallen soldiers from 1860 to the present, which stands at 25,417.
Since last Memorial Day, 316 fallen soldiers were added to the tally, along with 61 disabled veterans who passed away due to their disabilities and were recognized during the year as fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars.
Currently, Israel is home to 7,674 bereaved parents, 5,391 widows, 10,302 orphans, and 34,250 siblings of fallen soldiers, totaling 58,617 members of bereaved families, including 5,944 bereaved family members who have been added due to the “Swords of Iron” war.
Over the past year, 1,647 family members joined the bereaved family community, including 487 bereaved parents, 85 widows, 163 orphans, and 912 bereaved siblings.
Memorial Day will begin on Tuesday evening, April 29th, at 8:00 p.m. with a one-minute memorial siren which will sound across Israel. Immediately following the siren, memorial ceremonies will begin nationwide. The main ceremony will take place at the Western Wal plaza in Jerusalem, attended by the President of Israel and the IDF Chief of Staff.
The following day, on Wednesday, April 30th, at 11:00 a.m., a two-minute memorial siren will sound, after which state memorial ceremonies will commence at 58 military cemeteries and memorial sites across the country. Immediately after the siren at 11:02 a.m., a special flyover of fighter jets will pass over the military cemetery and the National Memorial Hall for Israel’s Fallen at Mount Herzl.
This year, a hybrid online Memorial Day ceremony will be broadcast to thousands of Jewish communities worldwide in a joint project by the Ministry of Defense and the World Zionist Organization.
The ceremony, intended for Israeli communities worldwide, is divided into two parts: a ceremony filmed at the National Memorial Hall at Mount Herzl, which will be presented on the Ministry of Defense’s YouTube page, and content for holding a memorial ceremony which will be published on the website of the department of Families, Commemoration, and Heritage. The content will be distributed to thousands of Jewish communities worldwide.
Chief of Staff In Gaza: ‘If Hostages Don’t Return, We Will Escalate Our Operations’
On Thursday (24th), Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, conducted a field tour and situational assessment in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip. He was accompanied by Major General Yaniv Asor, Commanding Officer of the Southern Command; Brigadier General Moran Omer, Commanding Officer of the 36th Division; Brigadier General Barak Hiram, Commanding Officer of the Gaza Division, and other senior commanders.
During the visit LTG Zamir met with soldiers on the ground, expressed his appreciation for their dedication, and was briefed on operational plans for ongoing defensive and offensive operations.
In his remarks, LTG Zamir stated: “We continue to apply operational pressure and tighten our grip on Hamas as necessary. If there is no progress in securing the return of the hostages, we will escalate our operations significantly until we achieve a decisive outcome,”
“Hamas is responsible for initiating this war, for the ongoing captivity of the hostages, and for the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza. Hamas underestimates our capabilities, intentions, and determination – just as Nasrallah and his leadership once did,” Zamir added.
“Yesterday, I attended the ceremony at Yad Vashem and met six Holocaust survivors, all over 80-years-old, who lit the memorial torches. They stood tall and strong, full of resolve. We are fighting for them. They are watching us and relying on us,” he said.
“On Holocaust Remembrance Day, the significance of your mission becomes even more profound — as it embodies the defense of a sovereign Jewish state and its powerful military,” Zamir concluded.
Senior Terrorist Responsible For The Bibas Family Abduction Eliminated
The Mujahideen Brigades, the terrorist organization that abducted and murdered Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas, announced Thursday (24th) that one of its senior military intelligence commanders was eliminated in an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike.
According to the group’s statement, Imad al-Baba, also known as “Abu Ashraf,” was killed along with members of his family. Palestinian media outlets reported that the Israeli Air Force carried out the strike in the central Gaza Strip.
Earlier this month, the IDF and the Shin Bet security agency eliminated another senior figure in the same organization, Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Awad in a strike in northern Gaza. Awad was the commander behind the abduction of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas and was reportedly also involved in their murders. According to an IDF statement, Awad had infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz multiple times during the October 7 massacre. He also played a role in the abduction and burial of Haggai Gadi and JudyLynn Weinstein, and was involved in the kidnapping of Thai nationals.
The IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee issued an evacuation notice to residents of Beit Hanoun and Sheikh Zayed in northern Gaza, emphasizing that this was a final warning ahead of an imminent large-scale strike. The warning followed recent sniper and terrorist activities originating from the area targeting Israeli forces.
Adraee further stressed that terrorist organizations, led by Hamas, bear full responsibility for the need to evacuate and the suffering of civilians, urging Palestinians to move toward Gaza City.
Iran In Focus As CENTCOM Chief Arrives In Israel For Urgent Visit
Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCON) arrived in Israel on Thursday afternoon (24th) for another brief visit. Kurilla, who is highly respected by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and senior commanders in the IDF, will remain in the country for approximately 36 hours.
The prevailing assumption is that his visit will center on planning for a potential military strike on the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as on countermeasures to defend against any Iranian response, should Trump decide to implement the military option. Kurilla is known for his aggressive stance toward Iran and is considered a firm believer that a substantial blow can be dealt to its nuclear infrastructure.
During his tenure as CENTCOM commander, Kurilla significantly enhanced Israel’s integration into the US military’s regional framework. He also played a key role in building and operationalizing the regional defense network for Israel, which was used in real time during two Iranian missile attacks on the country amid the ongoing war. His current visit also comes against the backdrop of an unprecedented scale of American military aid and weapons transfer to Israel.
Pushback In Arab World After New Call For Global Jihad Against Israel – Pesach Wolicki
On March 31, the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), headquartered in Qatar and comprising 95,000 Muslim scholars, issued a ten-point fatwa calling for global jihad against Israel. The fatwa states that “it is obligatory for every capable Muslim in the Islamic world to wage armed jihad against the occupation in Palestine.” It calls on Arab and Islamic states to immediately intervene militarily against Israel, and demands besieging the “Zionist enemy” by land, sea, and air, and declares that normalizing relations with Israel is “forbidden by Sharia law.”
While similar rhetoric has been heard for decades, what is notable is the pushback it has received from influential voices within the Muslim world. Salem Alketbi published a scathing critique on the Arab news site Elaf.com, reminding readers that the UAE had designated the IUMS as a terrorist organization back in 2014 – as did Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Bahrain – due to its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. Alketbi was not alone.
The Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Nazir Ayyad, dismissed the fatwa, declaring that “no individual group or entity has the right to issue fatwas on such delicate and critical matters in violation of Sharia principles,” and condemned it as an “irresponsible act” that endangers regional stability. Despite Egypt’s critical stance toward Israel during the current conflict, its highest religious authority rejected the fatwa outright.
This tension reveals a deeper division across the Muslim world. On one side stands the “jihadist” camp, represented by Qatar, Hamas, and Muslim Brotherhood affiliates. On the other side are nations increasingly prioritizing stability and engagement with the West: the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and to some extent, Egypt and Jordan. (Jerusalem Post)
(jpost.com)
Amsterdam Mayor Issues Historic Apology For City’s World War II Role In Jewish Persecution
In a solemn address on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema on Thursday (24th) extended an official apology on behalf of the city for its involvement in the wartime persecution of Jews, declaring that local authorities “let its Jewish residents down terribly” during the Nazi occupation, The Associated Press reported.
Speaking at a memorial held at the Hollandsche Schouwburg — a former theater that was infamously used as a deportation hub during the Holocaust — Halsema acknowledged the direct participation of Amsterdam’s municipal employees in the deportation and eventual murder of thousands of Jewish residents.
“The Amsterdam government, when it came down to it, was not heroic, not determined and not merciful. And it let its Jewish residents down terribly,” said Halsema. “On behalf of the city government, I offer my apologies for this.”
At the onset of World War II, approximately 80,000 Jews called Amsterdam home. By the war’s end only about 20,000 had survived. Among the victims was Anne Frank, whose diary became a global symbol of the Holocaust. She perished in a concentration camp.
Halsema detailed the municipality’s role in facilitating Nazi policies, stating that local departments collaborated with the German authorities, from registering Jewish citizens to marking residences — all steps that ultimately enabled systematic deportation.
Services were prepared to help enact one after the other anti-Jewish measure,” she said, according to the AP. “Step by step, the municipal machine became part of the machinery of evil.”
Halsena’s remarks follow earlier acknowledgements by national institutions. Former Prime MInister Mark Rutte publicly apologized in 2020 for its role in transporting Jews to Nazi camps, subsequently announcing reparations.
The Dutch Protestant Church similarly admitted its failings in 2020, acknowledging it did not act decisively to protect Jewish citizens during the war.
Halsema’s apology comes on the heels of a troubling rise in anti-Semitic incidents, including an assault on Israeli soccer fans six months ago that led to the arrest of more than 60 individuals. The mayor described the violence as “an eruption of anti-Semitism.”
The Last Jew To Leave The Sobibor Death Camp Alive – Tal Ariel Yakir
At the Eichmann trial, Yaakov Biskowitz presented a detailed map of the Sobibor death camp that he drew himself, which contributed significantly to exposing Nazi atrocities and assisted in archaeological excavations that uncovered gas chambers and crematoria that had remained buried and hidden underground for decades.
The camp was established in 1942, and shortly afterward, Yaakov, 15, arrived there with his parents and sister Hinda. His mother and sister were immediately sent to the gas chambers. As his father was selected to work in the camp as a carpenter, Yaakov worked with him. Yaakov witnessed how those who didn’t work were shot or sent to the gas chambers, and he worried about his father, who had fallen ill with Typhus. “I would carry him to work every day,” he recounted. He sat in the corner, and I worked for him too.”
“I did my best, but the day came that I could no longer carry him. That day two SS men came, removed him from the barracks, and led him to the shooting pit, accompanied by beatings and shouting. They shot him in front of me. I wanted to run after him, but the workers who were with me, held me back.” Biskowitz remained in Sobibor for a year and four months, making him one of the few Jews who survived so long in a death camp, where the average life expectancy did not exceed two months.
The Israel Police Heritage Center has produced a virtual reality exhibit dedicated to Yaakov’s work exposing the mass murder at Sobibor. Dr. Yossi Hemi from the History Department of the Heritage Center explains, “With the cessation of frequent transports to the camp, towards spring 1943, the Jews understood that the place would be closed and all its inhabitants eliminated. Then the Jewish underground members began to organize for the revolt, in which hundreds of prisoners participated.” The Jewish prisoners invited the Nazis to try on new leather coats, shoes, or to inspect items they had crafted for them. Every SS man who entered was attacked with axe blows or knives. Sixteen camp staff members were eliminated. Yaakov himself stabbed one of them.
The guards eventually shot hundreds of the Jewish prisoners. Only 47 camp residents survived. During the revolt, Yaakov failed to reach the fence and was forced to flee toward the crematoria. He hid in a shooting pit until after midnight, when only guards remained in Sobibor. Under the cover of darkness, he managed to escape and became the last living Jew to leave the camp. At 17 he joined the partisans. In 1947, he boarded an immigrant ship bound for Palestine that the British intercepted and diverted to Cyprus. Two years later, he immigrated to Israel and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces. In 1952, he began a long career in the Israel Police.
