WarSclerotic

At 8 p.m. Tuesday night, a one-minute siren will sound throughout Israel to mark the start of Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism. A total of 23,320 Israelis have fallen in battle or been killed in terrorist attacks since 1860, when Jews first moved outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City.

In the past year, 116 Israeli soldiers were added to the list of the fallen, including 67 who were killed in Operation Protective Edge last summer and 35 disabled IDF veterans.

There are 553 Israeli soldiers whose places of burial are unknown, including most recently Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, whose body was seized by Hamas last July.

On Tuesday night, the traditional Memorial Day opening ceremony will be held at the Western Wall, with President Reuven Rivlin and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot in attendance.

On Wednesday, around 1.5 million Israelis are expected to visit military cemeteries across the country, from Kiryat Shmona in the north to Eilat in the south. At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, a two-minute siren will sound throughout the country.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon attended an IDF General Staff Forum toast, ahead of Independence Day, which begins Wednesday night.

“The meaning of independence in my view is, first of all, the ability to defend yourself,” Netanyahu said. “To the growing threats around us we have a response, which is found in this room. I rely on you, the chief of staff, and I rely on the IDF. The people of Israel rely on you.”

Ya’alon said, “This week has huge significance. It includes a combination of the struggle for independence with an evaluation of that independence, which was not a given, and the price of it, which we all know well. … This causes us to understand why it is important to eschew war as much as possible.”