to be or not to be, at the cemetery

There is a heart wrenching debate going on in advance of the upcoming Memorial Day, Yom Hazikaron, in just a couple of days. Some people, members of bereaved families or people claiming to represent bereaved families, are saying that politicians from the government should not participate in ceremonies at the cemeteries where fallen soldiers are buried on Yom Hazikaron. Others are saying it is the responsibility of government members to be at these ceremonies, even if people there will attack them. 

Because of the sharp political divide, especially exacerbated by the recent attempt to pass the judicial reform leading to massive protests, nobody is willing to give an inch to anyone on the other side. 

I have heard a lot of back and forth on this with arguments for both sides. One thing I have not heard mentioned is that the politicians are people too, Israelis like everyone else, some of whom served in the army (several in the government did not or did not significantly), some were officers or commanders or generals, and like all other Israelis lost family members in battle, lost friends or fellow soldiers, and they too want to commemorate their beloved who fell as soldiers or as victims of terror. And yes, coming as a representative of the government is different than coming as a private individual, but they have no way of coming to a commemoration as a private individual - even if they do others at the ceremony may very well treat them like a representative of the government.

There may very well be a time to reconsider and debate the traditional method of commemoration on Yom Hazikaron. Until a social consensus is reached, whenever that may be, I wish the divide would not be so sharp and that people would not use these commemorations to make political statements. But we know that is not going to happen.

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