BREAKING NEWS

IDF chief of staff lays flag on grave of fallen soldier

The IDF's Chief of Staff, Benny Ganz, laid a flag on the grave of reserves' officer Shlomo Nitzani, the latest soldier to be buried at the Har Herzl cemetery, the IDF announced on Wednesday.
Ganz, who laid the flag as part of the 'flags for the fallen' project, expressed his sympathy to Nitzani's family, saying, "for the entire 36 years during which I have served in the IDF, I haven't succeeded in finding the words that can bring relief for the family of the fallen...because there aren't any magical words...all that's left for us to do is to go through the pain together and wrap them in love."
The ceremony, which took place the week before Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars, paid tribute to Nitzani who passed away in October of 2012.
Nitzani, born in 1936, drafted into the airborne Nahal unit in 1955, before going on to serve as an officer for various combat units.
During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Nitzani earned the Medal of Valor after leading a tank battalion on a daring offensive against the Egyptian army in the Sinai desert.
Ganz closed the ceremony with the statement, "today, I salute your heroism."