Siren Sounds for Soldiers As Memorial Period Begins

Yom Hazikaron, Remembrance Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers, began Tuesday night with the sounding of a one-minute sire and a continuous television broadcast of the names of the men and women who died in wars.

Since the 1948 War of Independence, 18,220 soldiers have died, according to the Ministry of Defense. The roll call was expected to continue for 27 hours.

Yom Hazikaron comes one day before Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, which this year marks the 47th anniversary of the establishment of the state.

In an effort to pre-empt any violence during the holidays, Israel sealed off the West Ban and Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The closure is scheduled to last until Sunday morning, according to an army spokesman. She said the transfer of certain goods in and out of Gaza would be permitted.

The memorial siren was followed by a ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where President Ezer Weizman and Israel Defense Force Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak were among those participating in memorial ceremonies.

Weizman lit the traditional memorial candle, after it was handed to him by Matya Poraz. Her son, Nir, was killed last year while leading a raid on a house north of Jerusalem, where Israeli soldier Nachshon Waxman was being held by captors of the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas. Waxman and his captors were also killed in the raid.

Nir Poraz’s father, Maoz, a pilot, was shot down during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Remembrance Day observances were scheduled to continue Wednesday, when official ceremonies commemorating Israel’s fallen solders were to take place at military cemeteries across the country.

Observances were to close officially with a torchlighting ceremony in Jerusalem on Wednesday night, when Independence Day celebrations officially were to begin.