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Haredis to Hold Ceremony Commemorating Fallen Haredi Soldiers Amind Growing Anti-IDF Incitement Within the Community .
The Likud’s haredi faction will be holding a special memorial ceremony this Wednesday on Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, commemorating the Haredi members of the IDF who were killed in Israel’s wars.
Haredis, or ultra-orthodox Jews, generally abstain from IDF service and those who enlist often face incitement and violence from extremists within their communities.
This is the third year that members of the Haredi faction of the Likud are organizing the ceremony at the Ponevezh Cemetery in Bnei Brak, where a number of fallen Haredi soldiers are buried. In the previous two years, the ceremony was interrupted by Haredi extremists who heckled the attendees and attempted to prevent the ceremony from taking place.
The ceremony, which is held in cooperation with the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu, will be attended by Likud Minister Ofir Akunis, the Chairman of the Likud’s Haredi faction Yaakov Vider, representatives of the IDF’s Military Rabbinate and Im Tirtzu activists.
Chairman of the Likud’s haredi faction and organizer of the ceremony, Yaakov Vider, noted the relevance and importance of the event:
“Specifically now when there is a wave of anti-IDF incitement and violence from extremists within the Haredi sector, there is growing importance to remember the haredi soldiers who gave their lives fighting for Israel.”
“I am thankful to the Israeli government for the help,”
continued Vider,
“and call on the Israeli public to attend the ceremony and honor the memory of our holy brothers who fell fighting for Israel.”
Matan Peleg, CEO of the Im Tirtzu movement that has been a leading advocate for the integration of all factions of Israeli society in the IDF, said:
“We salute the brave haredi soldiers of the IDF and will remember together those who gave their lives fighting for the country. These soldiers represent the very essence of unity and serve as a prime example of what it means to be a scholar and a warrior.”
The ceremony will take place at 3:15 pm on Wednesday, April 18, at the Ponevezh Cemetery in Bnei Brak.
