Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the loss of Israel's fallen soldiers at the Yad Labanim memorial in Jerusalem Wednesday, hours before a minute-long siren was set to mark the beginning of Remembrance Day.
Netanyahu spoke of his personal grief for his brother Yoni, who died while in the service of the IDF 39 years ago, and told the bereaved families that they could take some solace knowing that their sons and daughters had died ensuring the future of the Jewish people.
"As the threats from our enemies to destroy our homeland grow, our determination to defend our homeland grows," Netanyahu said.
"We saw this last summer during Operation Protective Edge, such courage, unity and sacrifice," Netanyahu said, referencing the 67 IDF soldiers who died during the Gaza war.
"We saw also lone soldiers who came from the Diaspora to serve in the IDF and were killed in the war. They left family and a comfortable life abroad and chose to join fighting units. They said this is our home and we came to defend it," the prime minister said.
He said that there was no other people who had been uprooted from its land and succeeded in coming back as the Jewish people did in Israel.
He spoke to the bereaved families saying, "When it hurts and your grief is painful, take solace in the fact that your sons and daughters fell to ensure the existence of the nation. There is no future for the Jewish people without the state of Israel."
"We salute the heroism of the fallen," Netanyahu said, before laying a wreathe in memory of the soldiers.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein also laid a wreathe at the ceremony, which was the first of several to take place on Tuesday evening and Wednesday in memory of Israel's fallen soldiers and those who lost their lives to war and terror.