Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his wife Gilat stand still together with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem, April 28, 2022. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/POOL

i24 News – Several ministers and members of Israel’s parliament have cancelled their participation in Memorial Day ceremonies, a day of remembrance for fallen IDF soldiers and victims of terrorism, which will begin Monday evening and continue through Tuesday.

Bereaved families have asked politicians to refrain from attending ceremonies at military cemeteries this year, due to protests against judicial reform and possible turmoil.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant refused these requests, arguing that ministers and Knesset members represent the state and that their presence has symbolic value. However, a number of ministers announced on Sunday that they would respect the wishes of the families.

Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf and Deputy Culture and Sports Minister Yaakov Tessler, from the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, were the first to cancel their participation. Yitzhak Goldknopf wrote in a letter to a bereaved families’ organization responsible for military ceremonies that although he wanted to attend the ceremony, he did not want to cause “inconvenience.”

Education Minister Haim Biton, of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, also announced that he was cancelling his participation in the ceremony, which he had been scheduled to attend in the city of Rehovot. Minister of National Diplomacy Galit Distel-Atbarian, from the Likud party, also announced that she was withdrawing from the ceremony in which she was to participate, stating that “in front of the bereaved families, I bow my head unequivocally” and that “their request is an order for me.”

The bereaved families particularly objected to the appearance of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at the Beer Sheva military cemetery, arguing that “the rebel, the Kahanist, the person who has been convicted of supporting a terrorist organization and inciting racism” should not attend the ceremony.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, opposition leader Yair Lapid, Yoav Gallant and National Union leader Benny Gantz issued a rare joint statement on Friday calling on all Israelis to “leave the controversy of this Memorial Day outside the military cemeteries.”