Jerusalem Day: Memorial for Ethiopian Jews takes place at Mount Herzl
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin both laid wreaths at the memorial event for Ethiopian Jews who perished on the journey to Israel
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Reuven Rivlin at the memorial event for Ethiopian Jews who perished on the way to Israel, May 10th 2021.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
A state memorial service in honor of the 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who died on their way to Israel was held on Monday, as part of the country's official Jerusalem Day events.Besides marking the reunification of the city in 1967, Jerusalem Day is also set aside as the day which marks the long and painful journey that many Ethiopian Jews undertook in order to reach Israel.The event, held at Mount Herzl, was marked by speeches from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.The ceremony honoring Ethiopians who died on the way to Israel. (Photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)The president opened his speech by thanking the Israeli security forces for their efforts to maintain order and security throughout Jerusalem, today and the whole year round."Today we remember the sons and daughters of the Ethiopian Jews who dreamed of Jerusalem, who prayed for it, who risked the long and difficult road for it, but like Moses, did not get to see it. We pay tribute to all those men and women," the president said."I would also like to mention the commitment of the State of Israel to the return of Avera Mengistu, along with the other prisoners and missing person. Avera has been in Hamas captivity for almost seven years, and his fate has been unknown ever since. Soon he will return and we can say the words of the prophet Isaiah about Jerusalem: 'Look around and see, everyone has gathered and come to meet you,'" Rivlin concluded.The president and prime minister both laid wreaths in memory of the Ethiopian Jews who perished on their journey to Israel.Netanyahu spoke at the ceremony, saying "a struggle now rages over the heart of Jerusalem. This is not a new struggle, this is a struggle between tolerance and intolerance, between law and lawlessness. The struggle is not new because it has in-fact raged over Jerusalem for centuries, since the rise of the three monotheistic religions."The prime minister continued, referencing the current unrest across Jerusalem and the riots on Temple Mount before concluding his speech.
"We insist on guaranteeing the rights of all, and this, from time to time, requires the same stability and steadfastness as the Israeli police and security forces are currently displaying. We back them up in this just struggle. These things have of course been subject to misguided, incorrect, and misleading visibility in the global media. In the end, the truth is forever, but it is our responsibility to tell it, over and over again."
