In Israel, the distance between grief and independence is measured in one second. As the sun sets, the somber remembrance of Memorial Day transforms instantly into the defiant joy of Independence Day. It is a jarring, sacred transition that reminds Israelis that independence is not separate from loss; it is built upon it. Where remembrance and independence exist side by side in Israel, that balance between loss and purpose defines both the individual and the nation.
April 21: Yom Hazikaron, Israeli Remembrance Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism
April 22: Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day
The cost of defending Israel’s existence is still being paid right now, 78 years after the Jewish people regained independence. Two citizen soldiers were killed just days before Memorial Day. The reservists were murdered by explosives set by Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon despite a ceasefire.
Warrant Officer (res.) Barak Kalfon, 48, died in an explosion while soldiers were scanning for weapons in a building. Three other troops were injured in the blast. The engineer is survived by his wife and two daughters. His cousin, Sapir Kalfon, said: “Next week, you would have celebrated number 49. You didn’t even need to be in uniform anymore. But you insisted on volunteering for reserve duty. That’s who you were. Always smiling, embracing and including. Calm, with a heart bursting with goodness.”
Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Lidor Porat, 31, died when his engineering vehicle rolled over a bomb the next day. Nine additional soldiers were injured in the attack. Porat’s family described him as a deeply religious man with “love of the Torah and Torah scholars.” Husbands, fathers, engineers—their deaths on the eve of Memorial Day capture the cost of that remembrance.
Weight of memory: Hostages and heroes
“Operation Red Heart” was launched to rescue the red-headed Bibas children—Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, and their mother, Shiri, 32, whose kidnapping captured hearts worldwide—from Hamas captivity in Gaza. The operation was revealed during Israel’s annual Memorial Day ceremony in Jerusalem by Yafit Goshen. Her son, Staff Sgt. Oriya Goshen, and Staff Sgt. Ori Gerby were killed during the January 2024 operation to save the two young boys and their mother. The world learned two years later that Hamas terrorists had already murdered the Bibas family with their bare hands.
Yafit Goshen spoke of how “bereavement has become a daily reality that burns the heart.” Her son, of Ethiopian descent, was born in Jerusalem, participated in a religious Zionist youth movement, and was remembered as a “true fighter for justice who defended the weak and marginalized.” Yafit urged the nation to honor the fallen through solidarity: “Our responsibility as a society is to be worthy of the sacrifice of Oriya and all the fallen. We must have unity among the people.”
Israeli-American Rachel Goldberg-Polin echoed this same weight of memory in a recent “60 Minutes” interview, reflecting on the murder of her 23-year-old son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin. He survived the Nova music festival massacre—losing part of his arm during a Hamas grenade thrown into the bomb shelter that Hersh and others sought for protection—and endured 328 days in captivity before Hamas terrorists executed him in a Gaza tunnel.
As Goldberg-Polin continues to process her loss, she has come to understand grief not only as pain, but as proof of love: “Grief is actually just this precious badge of love that you wear because someone has died and your love is continuing to grow.” Her new book, When We See You Again, explores the agonizing reality of this closure.
Yet even in his absence, meaning persists. Hersh’s legacy endures through a mantra of survival he shared with fellow hostages in the tunnels: “He who has a why can bear any how.” His determination to find meaning amid unimaginable darkness reflects the very spirit that continues to sustain the Israeli people.
Meaning of independence: Renewal and resolve
For the first time since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s Independence Day ceremony at Mount Herzl will open without a prayer for the return of the hostages. This year’s theme, “Forces of Renewal,” reflects both the weight of what was endured and the resolve of a nation that refused to break.
The ceremony carries a historic first. Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, lit one of the 12 torches representing the Tribes of Israel, an honor never before granted to a foreign leader. It is a fitting symbol. When Hamas murdered the Bibas family in captivity, Milei declared two days of national mourning in Argentina (the family held Argentinian citizenship).
Argentina and Israel just formalized their bond by signing the Isaac Accords in Jerusalem. The initiative will bring together “the descendants of Isaac and nations of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in defense of freedom and democracy, and in the fight against terrorism, antisemitism and drug trafficking.” Milei pledged to move his nation’s embassy to Jerusalem and launch direct flights between Tel Aviv and Buenos Aires.
For Latino Jews and Israel’s many friends across Latin America, Milei’s torch-lighting is more than diplomatic. It is personal. Argentina is home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America, and both nations carry shared scars from Iranian-backed terrorism: the 1992 Israeli embassy and 1994 AMIA Jewish community center bombings that killed 113 people and injured hundreds. Argentina also recently took over the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
As Israel marks 78 years of independence, its population stands at 10.2 million—a nation that has grown even as its challenges have multiplied.
Points to consider:
1. Memorial Day is a sacred ceremony of national remembrance.
In Israel, Memorial Day is observed with a gravity that has no American equivalent. TV networks broadcast the names of every fallen soldier and terror victim. A siren pierces the air, and the entire country stops. Drivers pull over their cars on highways and step out. Pedestrians freeze. Ceremonies honor all who served the Jewish state: Jews, Druze, Christians, Muslims, Circassians. This is what sacred remembrance looks like.
2. The cost of freedom is still being paid.
The cost of Israel’s independence remains staggering even after the heaviest fighting has subsided. Even in a ceasefire, the war does not fully stop. Two reservists were killed by Hezbollah bombs just days before Independence Day. An engineer. A student. A father of two daughters. Israel’s independence is not separate from loss; it is built on it. Supporting Israel means understanding that this fight is never truly over.
3. Hersh’s why is Israel’s why.
Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin was taken hostage at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, lost part of his arm to a Hamas grenade and was executed in a Gaza tunnel. In the darkness, he kept fellow hostages alive with a mantra: “He who has a why can bear any how.” His mother, Rachel, has made that her own. So has Israel. A nation that has buried so many and keeps choosing life deeply knows its why.
4. Israel’s story is universal.
Israel is not a monolith; it is a mosaic. A soldier of Ethiopian descent died trying to rescue the red-headed Israeli-Argentinian Bibas family from Hamas captivity. An Argentinian president lights an Independence Day torch as a testament to a Judeo-Christian alliance forged in shared grief. Israelis of all faiths serve and fall together in the Israeli Defense Forces. Israel’s story does not belong only to Jews. It belongs to everyone who believes freedom is worth defending.
