As the Holocaust Remembrance Day siren rang on Monday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other state officials joined the nation’s two minutes of silence from a closed wreath-laying ceremony at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem museum and memorial.
After the droning of the siren ceased, President Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu, Knesset speaker Amir Ohana, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Col. Eyal Amir, Israeli Police Chief Daniel Levi, World Zionist Organization chairman Yaakov Hagoel, Jewish Agency chairman Doron Almog, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan, and Guatemalan ambassador to Israel Ava Atzum Arévalo de Moscoso were called one by one to hang flower wreaths on behalf of their respective institutions.
The wreaths in memory of Holocaust victims were hung on pedestals before a memorial torch. Netanyahu was the second to place his flowers, but stopped to steady and straighten the wreath until satisfactory.
Arévalo de Moscoso placed her wreath on behalf of the diplomatic services in the country. She later told The Jerusalem Post that it was a great honor to lay the memorial flowers, further expressing a great admiration for the Holocaust survivors that she had met. Every time survivors shared their experiences, her heart grew to accommodate more room for her love for the country. She had come to love and appreciate the Jewish people and the citizens of Israel, feelings that had endured during “the three wars” she experienced during her diplomatic tenure in Jerusalem.
Third year in a row Holocaust Remembrance Day held during wartime
Hagoel also noted that Monday marked the third time in a row that Holocaust Remembrance Day was held during wartime, which gave greater meaning to the wreath he laid.“After two and a half difficult years for Israel, we are continuing to fight to live in our homeland,” he said.
The large concentration of state officials during a period of war resulted in a heavy security presence from the Border Police, Israel Police, and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). The Yad Vashem campus was closed off to the general public and had several layers of security: an invitation, x-ray scans of one’s belongings, full body and shoe scans, and questioning required to enter the plaza. A second wreath-laying ceremony that was open to the public was held a few hours later.