Israel braces for a tense Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut

Hopes for unity on Israel’s national holidays are fading as Opposition Leader boycotts the official ceremony and bereaved parents ask government members to stay away from military cemeteries.

Ceremonies of Holocaust Remembrance Day last Monday evening and Tuesday passed largely without political flareups, save for an incident at a Tel Aviv synagogue where attendees shouted at Likud MK Boaz Bismuth as he spoke.

But with the more politically charged nature and more immediate pains of Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day, 24-25 April this year) and Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day, 25-26 April), politicians, organisers, and bereaved family members are deep in discussion on how to prevent protests marring Israel’s most solemn and most celebratory days.

There are fears the official torch-lighting ceremony, which signals the end of the Yom Hazikaron and the start of Yom Ha’atzmaut, will be disrupted by democracy protestors.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is lowering the risk of stirring protests by providing a pre-recorded video instead of delivering a speech, as is customary.

But Opposition Leader Yair Lapid has announced he will boycott the event, citing deep societal divisions over the government’s judicial overhaul program.

Thousands of bereaved family members have already signed letters begging government ministers to break with tradition this year, out of respect for them, and stay away from ceremonies at military cemeteries.

The Kibbutz Movement has rescinded an invitation to Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for the group's Memorial Day service next week at the direct request of bereaved families, who said they could not accept "inviting a government representative to a memorial ceremony at a time like this."

One lobby group of bereaved families has called on all members of the Zionist parties in the Knesset to attend the ceremonies in pairs – a coalition member alongside an opposition member – to prevent provocations.