Deputy Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel called on Israel to introduce new legislation that would include victims of terrorist attacks outside Israel in the official tally for the annual Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism.
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Memorial Day started on Monday night with a one-minute siren nationwide. As is customary, another two-minute siren is set for 11 a.m. Tuesday, when Israelis usually hold ceremonies in cemeteries across the country to mourn loved ones who died in terrorist attacks and military service.
However, this year gatherings are banned because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Official ceremonies attended by state leaders are to be held without audience and broadcast via television and other formats.
"When the State of Israel bows its head in memory of the 23,816 dead this Memorial Day, we must remember that we are all one family, and need to add to their numbers, the murdered victims of the anti-Semitic events in the world – we are all one!," Hagoel said, recalling the various attacks on Jewish communities in recent years, including against a German synagogue during Yom Kippur last year.
"Anti-Semitism raises its head and spreads like a malignant lesion. The anti- Semitism report prepared for the World Zionist Organization for Holocaust Day revealed that there was a sharp increase in anti-Semitism worldwide in the first quarter of 2020," Hagoel warned.
