In Israel, Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) begins at sundown on Tuesday evening. It is the day that Israel remembers soldiers who fell defending the Jewish State and the victims of terror attacks. This year 31 people were murdered by terrorists in Israel. In addition, a special ceremony will take place in Jerusalem on Wednesday to remember the victims of anti-Semitic attacks in Paris and Copenhagen earlier this year.

(JP Updates, Eliyahu Berkowitz)

Wednesday is Yom Hazikaron, the day all of Israel remembers soldiers who fell defending the Jewish State, and all of the victims of terror who were killed solely because they were Jews. It directly precedes Yom Hatzmaut , the day the modern state of Israel declared its independence. This is a clear reminder that our existence was not free. We paid for it in Jewish blood. It is also a reminder that the State of Israel has the mission of protecting Jewish lives and being a safe haven for Jews all over the world.

This year, that message was painfully clear. The Jewish Agency for Israel will hold a Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) ceremony in the plaza of its central Jerusalem headquarters building this Wednesday, April 22, at 9 p.m. The event will remember victims of anti-Semitic attacks outside Israel along with Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks within Israel. The memorial ceremony will center on the violent anti-Semitic attacks that took place earlier this year at the Hyper Cacher supermarket in Paris and the Great Synagogue in Copenhagen and will memorialize the victims: Phillipe Braham, Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab, and Francois-Michel Saada, and Copenhagen victim Dan Uzan.

The ceremony is being organized by the Jewish Agency for Israel with the participation of its partners at the World Zionist Organization (WZO), the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), Keren Hayesod-UIA (KH-UIA), The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the Jewish Federations of Canada – UIA (UIAC).

Valérie Braham, widow of Philippe Braham, and Sergeot (Mordekhai) Uzan, father of Dan Uzan, will speak at the event. Ambassador of France Patrick Maisonnave, Deputy Chief of Mission of Denmark Signe Biering Nielsen, Jewish Agency Chairman of the Executive Natan Sharansky, WZO Chairman Avraham Duvdevani, KH-UIA Director-General Greg Masel, JFNA Israel Executive Director Becky Caspi, KKL-JNF Chairman Efi Stenzler, UIAC Director-General Yossi Tanuri, and Jewish Agency Director-General Alan Hoffmann will be in attendance.

According to Jewish Agency data, some 200 Jews have been killed in anti-Semitic attacks outside Israel since the country’s establishment in 1948. Many of their names are inscribed on a memorial column that will be posted in the plaza for the event’s duration; the names of the Paris and Copenhagen victims will be unveiled during the ceremony.

Source: JP Updates