“Upon reflection, I truly don’t think I fully understood what it meant to be Israeli until I experienced Remembrance Day in Israel for the first time. … In Israel, a country where nearly every single person knows a victim of terror or war, and where grief is a collective burden, where people attend the funerals of strangers and the entire country stands still as a siren commemorates those who died on the battlefield, there is a love for a peoplehood unlike anything I have witnessed elsewhere.” —Yuval Levy, May 1

In a nation ravaged by war and loss, it’s only natural that the Jewish people would mark this year’s Days of Remembrance and Independence with a somber, almost apprehensive mood. The weight of a year and a half long conflict — and rows of fresh graves — sit heavily on a people who have a history of sorrow unlike any other. Then, as if to punctuate the sadness, thousands of acres of flames burned through an area near Jerusalem, a wildfire that made even the rare moments of celebration bittersweet.

But even before the blaze, last week’s festivities would have been tempered by the knowledge that dozens of hostages still sit in the clutch of Hamas, waiting helplessly for their own freedom. Yarden Bibas, one of the fortunate ones, told the world, “On Israel’s 76th Independence Day, I was in a tunnel and didn’t think that Israel was celebrating Independence Day while at war and with hostages in captivity.” Now, he writes, “on the 77th Independence Day, the war is still ongoing, and there are still hostages in captivity — only this time, I am home.”

But this year, Yarden — like so many Israelis — can’t find the will to celebrate. “I have brothers and sisters who are still being held hostage, and my heart is still there with them. I will not be able to heal or rest until they return. Please let the words ‘to be a free people in our land’ come true for everyone,” he pleaded, referring to the words of the Israeli national anthem, “HaTikvah” (“The Hope”). “I have no independence because they are still there,” he said emotionally. 

Others who were released spent time in quiet reflection and mourning. Eli Sharabi, who was asked to light the torch on Mount Herzl during the country’s moving ceremony to mark Israel’s founding, could not because the wildfires had closed in on the site. Instead, he spent the day visiting his wife and daughters’ graves, innocents who were all slaughtered on October 7, 2023 — the same day Eli was carried captive into Gaza. 

That same heartbreaking scene played out across Israel, as thousands of families mourn children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, who will never be home again. “You were killed with a brutality that has no explanation,” Eli’s broken voice said, “in a crime that has no justification. Even in the hardest moments, I hold on to what you’ve left behind: an endless love, a joy of life, memories of light. The world misses you, and I miss you in every breath. Lay to rest my love, always.”

Emily Damari, who inspired the world on the day of her release by proudly holding up her hand with two missing fingers, was able to light a torch “on behalf of the 59 hostages still in Gaza.” “She dedicated the lit torch to the fallen soldiers, the orphans and widows and grieving family. She promised Gali and Ziv that soon they’ll watch pink sunsets together and thanked the ‘Kadosh Baruch Hu,’ for the strength to survive.” Emily ended, Lior Zaltzman writes, “with a promise that we still have to look forward to something: ‘All the good that is still to come when everyone comes back home.’”

Yuval Levin, who was raised in America with Israeli blood, pointed out that these Days of Remembrance “[bear] little resemblance to Memorial Day in America, which is more about barbeques and clothing sales. In Israel, this day is deeply personal for every single citizen, regardless of gender, religion or political affiliation. If you belong to Israel,” he explained poignantly, “then its fallen belong to you.”

Sitting down with America’s new Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins tried to highlight the significance of the two days they had both just experienced in the Holy Land. “It’s a really big week, and the people of Israel have kind of a unique history and a unique perspective about [it],” the former governor shared on “This Week on Capitol Hill.” “The Day of Remembrance is a very solemn, sobering reminder of what they have been through to even exist.”

Huckabee talked about the scene on the following day, when tradition demands that sirens blare out across the country and everyone — no matter what they’re doing — stops and reflects, dedicating that moment to the people who have given everything to their nation. “If they’re in traffic, they get out of their car and stand. We were on our way back from Tel Aviv when this happened … so we pulled over, got out of the car, and it was just a real reminder that this is what Israel has to live with all the time. Then the following morning at 11:00, the same thing. It was really [powerful],” the new ambassador admitted. “I felt connected to that whole process of recognizing that most people in the world don’t get up every day and think [that at] any given moment somebody’s going to attack [them]. [Yet] every day they wake up, they’re mindful not only [that] somebody could attack us, but where’s the nearest shelter? Where can I go in 13 seconds and get out of harm’s way?”

Frankly, the diplomat reiterated, “This is the most contested real estate on God’s entire planet. It is. And we see that unfolding almost every day. This is a hostile neighborhood.” Sure, Huckabee conceded, there are places where there’s conflict and civil war. “But there’s never been one little sliver of land … the size of New Jersey … [facing this kind of hostility]. And because of that, it makes it a place where there’s always tension, there’s always a sense of ‘What will happen next?’ But it’s also a place where the Israeli people show an incredible resilience.”

He pointed to Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, who was asked in the early 1970s why Israel continued to win wars against such incredible odds. “They should have been defeated by all of them,” Huckabee agreed. “And she said, ‘Our secret is simple. We have nowhere else to go.’ And that sums it up about as powerfully as anyone could.”

As he takes on this new role for President Trump, Huckabee will carry his profound Christian appreciation for the Jewish state and people into everything he does. “There’s no way to understand the battles of Israel, the success of Israel, and somehow ignore the spiritual. The spiritual is the foundation. And it was the foundation 3,500 years ago when God said to Abraham, ‘This is a land that I give to you. And those who bless Israel will be blessed. Those who curse Israel will be cursed.’ The history here is not just a human history. It is a divine history,” the former governor emphasized. “… And I’d like to believe that it’s important to recognize that there’s more than just the geopolitical issue that governs what’s at stake here.’”