Israel's Remembrance Day & Independence Day Celebrations Amid Growing Tensions & Social Unrest

Shalom everybody it's great to be back with all of you I'm really um saddened by the loss of my mother passing on but it reminds me with the upcoming Mother's Day in May here to wish all of you mothers out there a great celebration and thank you for your contribution to the rest of us because this is vfi news and it's all about Israel thank you [Music] this week's main news stories are all about remembering we remembered the Fallen Soldiers and victims of terrorism going all the way back to the year 1860 and then immediately afterwards we remembered and celebrated Israel's Diamond Jubilee there's lots of news to unpack here so let's get started with the rest of it Monday evening was the Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism the memorial ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City included a passionate plea for National Unity from our president Isaac Herzog and these are the words he spoke so eloquently I appeal to you my brothers and sisters citizens of Israel at this sacred moment from here the wall of longing and tears from which the divine presence has never moved and I ask us to mourn and grieve together may we let that feeling of longing envelop us together May may we let that sound of our Collective pain ring loudly on this Memorial Day free of Discord as we cry for our sons and daughters the words of Isaac Herzog our dear president after relating the stories of some of the soldiers buried at Lot number nine of the mount herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem men and women from widely diverse backgrounds who are all buried in one small part of this military cemetery Herzog said it was a demonstration of how much Israelis share in common despite coming from many different places the cost of internal strife is heavy very heavy Herzog warned at this sacred place where so many of our soldiers swear Oaths to defend the Homeland now is the time to pledge once more we have one Army and one state the IDF and the men and women who serve it must remain beyond all disputes all of us from all shades of this nation must find what connects and unites us and not only in our cemeteries we must entrench our covenant of Life commit to the unity of Israel to The Eternity of Israel and to the Jewish and Democratic state of Israel IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General herzi halevi also spoke at the ceremony echoing herzog's theme of national Unity despite political differences quote down the paths of bereavement and pain I meet families from all part of society and the whole range of opinions and beliefs in every meeting I always found Common Ground out of our responsibility to defend the honor of the Fallen tomorrow we will put the daily issues outside of the cemeteries we will allow the families the commanders and the soldiers to unite in their holy vow and respect the memory of the Fallen speeches of these two Israeli leaders came at the end of a difficult day which saw other leaders speak out with a very different theme and tone Finance Minister bitzalel smotrich posted a rant on social media Monday morning in which he blamed quote professional and paid anarchists and bloodthirsty biased media for creating Discord in the country and specifically for demands that ultra-orthodox members of knesset who did not serve in the IDF as young men not attend Remembrance Day events these requests were actually made by members of families of slain soldiers who were worried that the presence of these politicians would in the highly charged political climate Israel finds itself in these days distract and possibly even disrupt the solemn occasion the request not to attend ceremonies was most often made regarding small Church's close friend and political Ally National security minister itamar bengavir who was not drafted into the IDF due to an extensive criminal record interesting to observe in the end several of the ultra-orthodox ministers and MKS who had been asked not to attend ceremonies graciously acquiesced and despite scattered reports of disruptions ceremonies at military cemeteries around the country were reportedly respectful and quiet Amen to that far away from the Holy Land the United Nations security Council with Russia filling the rotating presidency held a special meeting on Tuesday with the intended purpose of issuing harsh criticism of Israel's recent security measures interesting everybody out there how Russia is beginning to turn its ship and its policies against Israel globally and in the United Nations and these are the words today is one of the most sacred days of the year for the state of Israel Israeli ambassador to the United Nations told the security council members during his remarks we made numerous requests to reschedule today's debate describing the Deep importance of the day yet tragically this Council refused to budge continuing erdon said today's debate has crossed all lines while Israelis mourn this Council as usual will hear more blatant lies condemning the state of Israel and falsely painting it as the root of all the Region's problems he then read out the names of the Israelis killed in terrorism over the last year litter Memorial Candle on the desk in front of them and declared I refuse to spend this sacred day listening to lies and condemnation this debate disgrace of the fallen and Israel will not take part in it before erdogan walked out and left the Chamber of the United Nations but like all difficult days Remembrance Day 2023 ended on Tuesday evening and Israelis dove into celebrating Israel's independence day Israel's 75th Anniversary it's Diamond Jubilee since it's an official government holiday it's also a day off from school and work for most people and they are as thick with smoke from barbecues and the sound of laughter as Israelis celebrate the birthday of their country Israelis also got word of congratulations and solidarity on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the country from many of its friends and allies around the world including of course the United States but also European powers such as the United Kingdom and Germany as well as the Ukraine Romania Greece and others German president Frank Walter steinmeyer shared a video on social media Tuesday in honor of Israel's independence day thank you Germany and these were his words when David Ben Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the state of Israel 75 years ago the Jewish people finally gained a Homeland finally gained their own state after centuries of violence persecution and displacement of rampant anti-Semitism after the Betrayal of all civilized values that was the Holocaust the Declaration of Independence in 1948 gave the Jews and the diaspora more than just a geographical Homeland it gave them a spiritual Homeland it gave them a promise of a better future in freedom justice security and peace we Germans are full of admiration as we look to Israel's development and flourishing through the decades and we want to use all of the strength of our friendship to support Israel's path to the Future in freedom justice and insecurity with the quality of social and political rights as the Declaration of Independence promised all citizens 75 years ago closer to home Tuesday evening also saw a large gathering in Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park organized by the Orthodox Union which is significant since Israel's Orthodox Jewish communities have not always been strong supporters of the modern state of Israel this is for various theological reasons primarily a widely held view that a Jewish State should only be revived by the promised Messiah OU director Rabbi Avi Berman gave a moving address in which he declared that we had Young Memorial Day today thanking our soldiers thanking our civilians that gave their lives for this incredible State we're here thanking God for the incredible Miracle that's called the state of Israel that's leading the world in everything where we see the prophecies coming to fruition where we see the Jewish people gathering together in the land of Israel it's our chance to say thank you thank you thank you God I just love those words people Deputy Mayor Jerusalem ARA King also spoke at the event saying what a tremendous power there is in prayer in which many Jews from around the world participate in the Independence Day Celebrations here in the holy city of Jerusalem in addition to many celebratory prayers initiated by the municipality it is exciting to see the love and loyalty the to the land of Israel and Jerusalem in all its manifestations expressed with all of one's heart the state of Israel is still in its infancy 75 years is like nothing in the annals of history and yet we have made tremendous achievements also a new story of interest to Israelis and their friends around the world comes to us this week from the United States state of Texas where I am right now where the state senate passed two bills last week requiring public schools to prominently display the Ten Commandments and to set aside prayer and bible study time for students and employees the time for prayer and bible study must not interfere with regular studies and the time put aside for it can also be used to study religious texts other than the Bible parents must sign a legal document giving their children permission to participate and according to the lawmakers who passed the bills there are also other safeguards to ensure that the activities do not infringe on anyone's constitutional rights why is this of interest to Israelis well if I can switch to commentary mode for a moment I must tell you that in all my years of working in Israel advocacy I've noticed a distinct pattern people especially non-jews but sometimes also including Jews are much more likely to be pro-israel if they have a positive view of the Bible in fact the more people love and respect the Bible the more they love and respect Israel but here's a key few points friends the opposite is also true the lower a person's view of the Bible is the more likely they are to be anti-israel that's a consistent pattern that I've seen for many years and it's one more great reason in case you still need one to pray for your children and grandchildren and share the Bible with them start reading the Bible to them at bedtime even before they're able to understand anything and keep reading it to them as long as you can and they want to let them see their parents and older siblings reading the Bible not just on the Shabbat but every day take them to a Bible believing congregation fellowship or church somewhere and pray for them if you do that you can fail at everything else a parent is supposed to do for their children and it'll be okay but if you fail to teach your children to love and respect the scriptures you can do everything else right and it won't be okay as I said at the beginning of the vfi news this week in Israel was all about remembering and teaching our children to remember the Bible commands us to remember and teach our children to remember many things friends Israel needs to love prayers and support of Christians and we're going to keep on needing it for a very long time so raise up your children and grandchildren to fear the god of Israel to love and respect the word of God and to embrace the gospel of the kingdom of God it's what it's all about at the end of the day subscribe now send your comments give us a thumbs up and I'll see you next week on vfi News Mother's Day is coming God bless you inshallah [Music] foreign

Channel: VFI News

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Length: 13min 38sec (818 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 28 2023