Ministers Yitzhak Goldknopf and Yaakov Tesler of Torah Judaism canceled their participation as government representatives in the Remembrance Day ceremonies, as a result of a protest over their intention to attend. After several years in which ultra-orthodox ministers showed up at the cemeteries due to public pressure, this time they decided not to come. In contrast to the two, Minister Meir Proosh will attend the ceremony at the Horfish Regional Council and Minister Haim Biton of Shas will attend the ceremony of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion.
“As a member of the government, I was supposed to take part in the Remembrance Day ceremony for the IDF martyrs, which will be organized by the Yad Labanim organization in Kiryat Gat,” wrote Housing Minister Yitzhar Goldknopf. “I really wanted to come and honor the memory of the fallen. However, I came to know that besides the members of bereaved families who wanted my arrival as a representative of the government, there are bereaved families for whom this may cause discomfort. This is not true, but I prefer not to hurt their feelings. I do not wish to be used, God forbid , a reason for disrupting such a special and meaningful agenda. Therefore, during the ceremony we will go to the Western Wall, and there I will say chapters of the Psalms for the uplifting of the souls of the martyrs. I cherish the families and participate in their heavy mourning,” he added.
In the Hamodi newspaper, from the Gore party affiliated with Goldknopf, it was published in an editorial earlier this morning that the ultra-Orthodox ministers should avoid coming to the ceremonies. “It would be more correct for the ultra-Orthodox representatives, on their own initiative, to contact the people in charge of the ceremonies and ask them to send other representatives to the cemeteries this year in their place. There is no point in going to a place from which we are rejected. The ways of commemoration and remembrance that we take in our mannah, studying mishnayat, reciting chapters of the Psalms and praying for soul lifting – can to take place even without an official presence at the ceremony.”
A member of the Bnei Brak City Council, Yaakov Wider invited Minister Goldknopf to participate, give a speech and recite a chapter of Psalms at the Memorial Day ceremony at the Bnei Brak Cemetery. “The memory of the martyrs is above all controversy and politics and everyone will be welcomed at the ceremony. We are one people.”
A protest arose against the ultra-orthodox ministers on the grounds that they did not serve in the army, and as a result they must refrain from coming to the memorials in the military cemeteries. A similar claim was heard on the part of bereaved families against the arrival of Minister of Defense Bezalel Smotrich for the Memorial Day ceremony, in a letter they sent to the Ministry of Defense. “We strongly oppose the arrival of a person who did not serve in the army and refused to be photographed next to the Israeli flag to this sensitive position,” the families wrote. “Please spare the humiliation of the class in advance.”
But even without protesting the military service, as part of the protest against the legal reform, bereaved families oppose the arrival of some members of the Knesset. Following this, MK Zvika Fogel announced that he would not participate in the memorial ceremony in Rosh Pina. The honor of the fallen and the bereaved families is more important than my honor. I don’t intend to hurt their feelings,” he said on radio 103FM. Minister Mai Golan, who was scheduled to arrive at the military cemetery in Rishon Lezion, said that she would not participate in the ceremony due to an “important information campaign” in the US.
