Israel marks annual Memorial Day as peace remains elusive

Occuppied Jerusalem: Israelis have put aside their many divisions to remember more than 22,000 fallen soldiers and terror victims, mournfully aware that the strife that led to those deaths is far from over.

Memories of the recent war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip are raw. Although Israeli casualties were low, 13 dead compared with more than 1,400 Palestinians, Israel emerged from the offensive facing war crimes allegations and the realisation that the widespread devastation in Gaza has done little to assure the Jewish state peace and security.
The spectre of a nuclear Iran also loomed large, as military chief Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi noted Monday night, when official state memorial day ceremonies began.