The 19th annual joint Memorial Day ceremony, presented Sunday at the start of Israel's national day of honoring fallen Israeli soldiers and victims of attacks, offered an alternative commemoration of both Israeli and Palestinian victims.
Around 20,000 viewers watched the ceremony Sunday night as it was streamed on Facebook and YouTube and screened at scores of small gatherings in Israel and the U.S., including a couple of gatherings with Palestinians in the West Bank, organizers said.
Remembering Palestinians alongside Israelis on Israeli Memorial Day makes many in both societies uncomfortable. In recent years, the Israeli government has imposed entry bans, overturned by the Supreme Court, on Palestinian participants from the occupied West Bank. The annual ceremony has also attracted Israeli protesters, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right activist who now serves as Israel's minister of national security.