'Sound of pain and hope:' Israelis remember fallen soldiers, victims of terror on Memorial Day

Israel’s Memorial Day, otherwise known as the Day of Remembrance for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror – or “Yom HaZikaron” – began on Monday evening, marked by a one-minute-long siren in which Israelis stood in silence, followed by commemorative events across the country.

Another siren will sound on Tuesday for two minutes, and events will continue before the transition from Memorial Day to Independence Day.

The time of commemoration was accompanied by changes in the circulation of buses and trains, and large ceremonies were held at Jerusalem's Western Wall and at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery. 

To kick off the ceremony at the Western Wall, Israel's President Isaac Herzog gave a speech to those in attendance, during which he appealed for peace and unity among the Israeli people, recently torn by the government's controversial judicial reform

“I ask myself, I ask us: What other country in the world has such a special sound? It is the sound of pain and hope, of grief, and of pride. It is the sound of the State of Israel," Herzog said, referring to the one-minute siren that sounded nationwide honoring fallen soldiers. 

“A sound that calls on us to pause for a moment, to lock in the sanctity, to remember and to connect — together. This year, in the grips of these days of discord, this sound is more powerful, more searing, more pained, and more painful than ever.”

“This year, more than ever before, this sound calls on us, in the heart of the stillness that cries out: all of us, together. Their sacrifice has not been in vain; it shall not have been in vain.”

The president also called on the Israeli army to be left out of the controversy and for soldiers to not defect by refusing to serve. 

"The price of the internal feud is very heavy. In this holy place, where many of our soldiers swear to defend the fatherland, it is time to return and commit: we have an army and a country," Herzog continued. 

"The Israeli army and its servants must stay away from any controversy. All of us, representatives of all shades of the people, must find the vector of unification among us - and not only in the cemeteries - to establish the alliance of life, to commit ourselves to the unity of Israel, to the victory of Israel, to the Jewish and democratic State of Israel."

Check out the full schedule of events over the next couple of days:

Monday - the day before Remembrance Day

4:30 p.m. - Opening of Yom Hazikaron events at the "Yad Labanim" education center in Jerusalem, in the presence of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials.

8:00 p.m. - A one-minute siren will sound across the country, during which Israelis will stand in silence.

8:01 p.m. - Opening ceremony of Remembrance Day at Jerusalem's Wailing Wall, in the presence of Herzog, the Israeli army's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and bereaved families. The ceremony will include the lighting of a memorial candle, and the prayers "Yizkor" and "God full of mercy" will be recited in memory of Israel's martyrs.

9:15 p.m. - The national event "Songs in their memory" will be held in parliament under the sign: "Time has stood still." Video clips will be broadcast in memory of the deceased, including Major Bar Falah, a soldier who was killed seven months ago, as well as the Hillel brothers, who were killed in an attack near Hawara in the West Bank.

Tuesday 

11:00 a.m. - A two-minute siren will sound across the country.

11:02 a.m. – Along with commemorative ceremonies across the country, the State Martyr Ceremony will be held at the Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl in the presence of Herzog and Netanyahu.

1:00 p.m. - The national commemoration ceremony for victims of terror will begin at the Mount Herzl complex.

7:45 p.m. - End of Remembrance Day and start of Independence Day festivities.