The Garden of the Missing in Action ( he, גן הנעדרים, Gan HaNe'edarim, lit=Garden of the Missing) is a commemorative garden on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem dedicated to Israeli MIAs.

History

The garden memorializes fighters and officers of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

and

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...

MIAs starting from 1914, whose resting place is unknown. The garden also contains memorials to those lost aboard the submarine and the 23 Palmach commandoes lost in Operation Boatswain. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, 179 Israeli soldiers have been declared missing in action, mainly from the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

. The establishment of the Garden of the Missing was initiated by Moshe Oren, head of the Ministry of Defense Commemoration Division in 2003. It was dedicated in February 2004 in a ceremony attended by army chiefs, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, and members of the Jerusalem Municipality.

Traditions

An annual memorial service for the missing soldiers of Israel takes place in the garden's main plaza on the

Seventh of Adar Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season epi ...

, the day in the Hebrew calendar which marks the traditional date of the death of

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

, whose grave, according to the Bible, is known only to God. According to the rabbis, ransoming of captives is closely tied to the commandment of saving a life, and is thereby supremely important in Jewish law. Jewish law obligates searching for those who are missing in action even if there is only a remote chance of finding the person. The policy of the

is never to leave a soldier behind.

References

External links

Official web site
(in Hebrew)

by the

Israel Postal Company Israel Post is the trading name of the Israel Postal Company ( he, דואר ישראל, Do'ar Yisra'el), formerly called the Israel Postal Authority, which is a government-owned corporation that provides postal services in Israel. Israel Post ...

Israeli Soldiers "Missing in Action"
{{Mount Herzl, state=autocollapse Military monuments and memorials in Israel Tombs of Unknown Soldiers Monuments and memorials in Mount Herzl Jewish cemeteries in Jerusalem 2004 establishments in Israel Cemeteries established in the 2000s

History

Traditions

See also

References

External links