The ceremony, which has taken place annually for more than a decade, is the only official ceremony organized with the assistance of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. Conducted in English, the ceremony is simultaneously translated into French, Spanish Russian. It focuses on the contribution of lone soldiers and graduates of Masa
“We yearn for our loved ones who fell in the battle, and for those who have fallen victim to antisemitic terrorism and hate, in Israel, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Paris and the entire world,” said Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Isaac Herzog. “We can never reconnect the pieces, but we can cherish the memory of the fallen and honor their heritage.”
The ceremony included videos about fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. Participants heard about Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed in action in Gaza in 2014, and whose remains are being held by Hamas, Staff Sgt. Jordan Ben Simon, a French lone soldier who was also killed in action during Operation Protective Edge, Staff Sgt. Sean Carmeli, an American lone soldier killed in action during Operation Protective Edge, and Yelena and Yulia Nalimov, sisters from Russia who were killed in a suicide bombing at Tel Aviv’s Dolphinarium in 2001.
