Herzog: ‘There Is No Victory Without the Return of the Captives – the Citizens and the Soldiers’

i24 News – Israeli President Isaac Herzog participated on Sunday in a memorial ceremony at Mount Herzl for Israel’s fallen soldiers whose burial place is unknown.

Herzog told the audience: “For many months now, the State of Israel has been at war. A war that we did not choose, but cannot avoid: to return the kidnapped, to restore security. Tremendous pain engulfs our people and our land every time we learn of another death of a citizen or soldier in Gaza. The burial place of so many is unknown.”

The president added: “Here I emphasize again: we are determined to win this battle, and it is clear to us beyond any doubt that there is no victory without the return of the captives – the civilians and the soldiers. The living, and those who were murdered by malicious individuals and their burial location is unknown, it is our duty to locate them and return them for burial in Israel.

The president concluded: “It is our duty to return all the kidnapped, to fight for their lives, to bring back the remains held in Gaza, including those from Operation Protective Edge, for burial in Israel. To erase all doubts and fight for every shred of information for the families – all of this must remain above dispute. Here, from this sacred mountain, the mountain of longing and tears, we commit to doing everything to pay our moral debt.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also gave an address, “There is no burden heavier than the burden of bereavement. A burden that does not ease, a longing that knows no end, a pain that never stops, a void that can never be filled. In the past five months, the terrible news has been delivered to hundreds of families who must now also carry the burden of bereavement: mourning a father who was called up for reserve duty, longing for a son who fell in battle against terrorists, the pain for those who were kidnapped by evildoers, and the bodies still held by them.”

“The security establishment is operating relentlessly to try and obtain every piece of information that will help us find out what has happened to the missing. This commitment – to leave no one behind – is true for the war we are fighting today and for all of Israel’s wars”, Gallant concluded.

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