Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for soldiers who fell in battle and for the victims of terror, hits differently this year, just seven months since the October 7 massacre and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since the beginning of the war, Magen David Adom has lost 27 men and women who were killed in service on October 7 and fighting in the war.
To commemorate this sad day, MDA will host a Yom HaZikaron ceremony in which the names of the fallen men and women will be recited. Representatives from MDA will also join national memorial ceremonies and lay wreaths on the graves MDA members who have fallen in wars and terror attacks in cemeteries across Israel.
As part of its work with the Israel Defense Forces, MDA’s Blood Services Division began a vital program after the war began in which whole blood units are provided to combat soldiers on the frontlines, reducing battlefield fatalities by half. Israel is the third country in the world to use whole blood and is the only country to provide it on the battlefield.
Israel begins celebrating Yom HaAtzma’ut, Independence Day, immediately following Yom HaZikaron. Each year, 12 Israelis are selected to light torches as part of the Yom HaAtzma’ut ceremony. The torches will be lit at this year’s ceremony by people who were especially heroic on October 7. MDA paramedic Oshrit Hadad, who treated dozens of people in a field hospital she set up alongside other MDA medics on October 7, will light the “rescue forces” torch with members of other medical and rescue organizations.
Yom HaZikaron Observed at MDA in Pictures
