Remembrance Day Statement by The Chief of the General Staff, LTG. Herzi Halevi

Honored guests,

Since the dawn of our independence, those who fell in establishing Israel have been laid to rest on Mount Herzl.

Every year, we, the heads of the security and intelligence organizations, gather in the Hall of Remembrance on Mount Herzl in honor of those who have fallen in defense of Israel.

Every year, we stand here in partnership, to honour the memory of the soldiers and comrades-at-arms who fell.

Partnership is not a routine act of cooperation. Partnership is a spirit of destinies being bound together. Partnership occurs due to choice and a decision to unite under shared values. The goal of partners is shared and is a long-term goal, one that can only be achieved together. When successful, there is no equal to their success. In times of difficulty or distress, the partners are willing to do everything for each other, and if their fate overtakes them, they also fall together.

Seven months have passed since we all faced the heinous attack, unprecedented in the history of the struggle for the right of the Jewish people to live and prosper in our ancestral homeland.

We carry great responsibility for the security of the country, we carry great  responsibility in this event, including for its painful results. Compelled by necessity, we were faced with the harsh consequences of the attack, standing together against it and partnering to correct it; Compelled by necessity, our people fell as they fought side-by-side, and every day since then, we have been standing together, working for the sake of the citizens of the State of Israel and in order to restore security.

A short while ago, I visited the graves of those who fell in the "Swords of Iron" war. Laying there, side-by-side are IDF soldiers, combat soldiers and commanders, members of the ISA and the Israel Police, who were killed in action while performing their duty on the day the war broke out and in the subsequent battles.

The war is still ongoing, and the veil is yet to be removed from many of the heroic events that took place in its first days. One of those heroic events, is the story of the police station in Sderot.

On the morning of Simchat Torah, October 7th, the residents of Sderot woke up to the sound of sirens. Shortly afterward, terrorists broke into the city and the police station. They sought to seize control and prevent the police forces of the city adjacent to the border from protecting its residents.

The policemen, who fought heroically from inside the station and from the roof of the building, were joined by soldiers from the IDF, the ISA, the Border Police and the “Yamam” (Central Counterterrorism Unit). After long hours of an intense battle, they managed to stop the terrorists' killing spree, and to save the lives of many residents.

Those who fought side-by-side in Sderot were not members of the same unit. Some of them were on vacation and rushed to the station from their homes in the city and nearby communities; others, came to the station as reinforcements. Although they came from different units and organizations, they united and acted as a single unit with one goal - to fight back, protect the civilians, destroy the enemy and evacuate the wounded.

On the morning of that sabbath day, within the confines of the Sderot police station, a story about a shared fate was inscribed. Our people fought together with courage and determination, in a battle that cost the lives of brave policemen. The fighting spirit that beat within them on that morning is growing stronger, and is present in those fighting bravely on all fronts, near and far, in these very moments.

We, the heads of the organizations, stand side-by-side in conducting the war. We are partners in the fight to defeat the enemy, in the efforts to return our hostages, to locate our missing persons and to safely return all those evacuated to their homes.

Our people are fighting on the battlefield with courage and self-sacrifice, and are strengthening the security of the State of Israel. When we face them, united in our mission, they too follow our lead, down to the very last soldier: the IDF soldiers, the shadow personnel in the ISA and the Mossad, the police officers, the prison guards and the firefighters.

My colleagues Eyal, Dadi, Kobi, Kobi and Ronen,

Wrapped in the pain of the loss of our dear people, we are determined. We will continue to fight together to defend our country and ensure our existence here in this country.

The military units scattered across the length and breadth of the country silently tell the heroic tale of the soldiers who fell in defense of Israel.

The coming days are days of national remembrance, and in which the members of the bereaved families will go to the cemeteries to unite with their loved ones in the places they were laid to rest. There are those who have been doing this for many years, and there are many for whom this is the first National Remembrance Day, and the pain is immense.

During these days we stand by their side, and salute their loved ones and their acts of heroism.

Once again we will bear witness to the strength of shared destiny emerging from between our lines, and we will once again swear our duty to continue to accompany the parents, children, spouses, brothers and sisters in the long and painful journey of bereavement.

May the memory of the fallen be blessed.