After the first siren, the State Memorial Ceremony begins at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff of the IDF, and the President take part in this ceremony.

The next day, there’s another two-minute siren at 11:00 in the morning. This siren marks the beginning of private memorial ceremonies that take place in cemeteries or schools.

At night, the final ceremony is held at Mount Herzl National Cemetery. This ceremony ends Yom HaZikaron and marks the beginning of Israel's Independence Day.

Generally, in other countries, the Remembrance Day (Yom HaZikaron) of fallen soldiers and the Independence Day occur in two separate days of the year. In Israel, it was decided in accordance with the law that the Independence Day needs to begin the moment that Remembrance Day ends.

This is because the State of Israel wouldn’t be able to celebrate its existence if it weren’t for those who gave their lives for it. We wouldn’t be able to have one of those days without the other one.

We honor their memory and everything they fought for, so that today, we can celebrate our independence.

greetings from Argentina

We are so sorry for your loss. There are no words to describe the pain you are going through. As a wife, a mother, and a Jewish woman, you should know how important your husband was for Israel.

David was brave, strong, and kind. He gave everything for his country, and one day, Yaheli will know what a wonderful father she had. You can keep his memory alive by talking about all the good things he did.

Please remember that you are not alone. Our hearts are with you and your family. We are thinking of you, praying for you, and sending you love.

For us, David is a true hero, a hero of Israel, a hero of peace.

May his memory always be a blessing.

Morena Zalcman, Alexia Wainstok y Sofía Sufryn

He fight for us, for our security and for all the jewish people, the entire state of Israel and Argentina will remember him like a real hero, and we will transmit his legacy.

We read about him and look up for information about how he lived and about his family.

We hope everyone remember him as you describe him: devoted to his family and work, humble, a happy and great soldier.

We send you our most love and comfort, nothing can take back what happened, however we can still share his history and happiness.

We send you our maximum support,

Mica and Ro.

We were just told about your son David Shakuri and his story. We are very sorry about what happened to him, so we want to offer our condolences to you and his whole family.

We know that you are living a difficult situation, but we want you to know that we will always remember him every Yom Hazicaron. 

David was an example of what every person should be. Kind, responsive, humble. Those were some adjectives that could describe him perfectly. Everyone should be proud of him. He was an incredible husband, son, and father.

We hope that David remains in everyone's memory.

We send you our most cordial greetings.

Mateo Milano & Franco Urquizo.

We have recently learned about the story of you and your son, and it has deeply affected us. It is such a sad and tragic experience, and we want to offer our full support to you during this difficult time. We also noticed the incredible outpouring of support from many people, including politicians, professional athletes, school staff, and others. In the midst of such hardship, this is something truly uplifting.

We hope that more people become aware of your case, offer their support, and help ensure that something like this never happens again.

Julia S, Eliana C and Eva S

We all know “not all heroes wear capes”, and he certainly was the perfect example for that. Risking all he had in hopes to take care of his nation, family and friends. 

His efforts weren’t in vain, and we know the pain you feel is unexplainable. We hope by writing to you we can take a little bit of that away. We feel you and wish to be here to let you know that he will be remembered as the great person he was. 

With time, feelings of sorrow and grief soften - though they never completely fade away, given it some time, David will continue to shine like gold in your memories, even if he is no longer there - and the world can once again be full of colour. From the bottom of our hearts, we wish you the best in this hard time.

It’s clear he was an amazing father, a loyal friend, and someone who inspired those around him. His love for Yaheli and his dedication to his fight to show the kind of man he was.

We hope you find comfort in knowing how many people admire and remember him. He left a legacy that won't be forgotten.  

With all our respect.

Andrés and Nicolás

This is a message for Gabriela, Dafna, Sason, Yaheli, Guy and Yafit in memory of David Shakuri.

As ORT students and members of the Jewish community, we want to remember the victims of Hamas's terrorist acts and thank those who lost their lives fighting against the immeasurable evil of these individuals. Personally, we want to remember and thank David Shakuri, who with great courage and bravery went to fight for those who needed help and led a greater cause that affects us all as Jews.

We also wanted to remember that his death was not in vain, since through the actions of David and his FDI colleagues, many lives of innocent victims were saved, and thanks to them, they will be able to see their families again.

We're sorry for David's loss. From what we were able to find out about him, he seemed like a great person with a big heart who would give anything for the freedom of the innocents. David’s family and friends, stay strong.

A person like him is totally a hero. That is why he has my respect, and I wish there would be more people like him; people who are ready to help each other without expecting nothing in return.

Finally, for those who had met him, I want to say to you that someone that died is never gone at all. They are still present in our memories and the good moments we spent together. Also, in this case, I think that we can learn about him. Because, with all the love he gave to the people, he made people feel good in times of war. This is why should not be lost, his amazing hope for the future and the human potential.

That is why, for all the ones who have known him, I wish to point out what a good person he was, and, If we keep remembering him, he will never be dead :)

We know you are in a very awful moment, and nobody has to go alone through it. It’s unfair you have to let your son go without saying goodbye,no one could ever be prepared for that.

David will be remembered as a brave soldier, a lovely son and a great husband and father. His passion for tennis won´t be dismissed knowing that there is a therapeutic park founded in his name with tennis courts. An event was summoned, celebrities participated in friendly matches to honor him with this activity. 

Please remember that people care and we recall you that we feel your pain, we are with you.

As we know David was an awesome tennis player and one thing that comes to our attention is a super sweet commemoration in his name, that is the tennis center in Jerusalem, and the memorial garden. We have found a phrase that really moved us, “the garden is full of peace and calm, just like the person you were”.

We also found that during its inauguration, a tree was planted in his name.That made us reflect.While one life has gone, another was born in the space that David loved so much.

Just know that you aren't alone in this moment, trust other and your family will always be with you, and no matter what comes your way, it will be a shoulder to lean on

Our deepest condolences,

Charo Gueijman and Astrid Apanasowicz

We are Iara, Sofía and Julia from Argentina. We go to the 4th year of secondary school and today, in this special Yom Hazikaron, we remembered your father David.

We have been investigating about him and we found that he played tennis. He wanted to train and play with you, so we think that it could be a nice idea if you want to play tennis at any moment of your life. That would make a part of his dream become real and it could be a beautiful way for you to feel near to him.

We know that you didn't spend too much time with your dad, but telling you this detail about him would make his memory be still alive and let you know him better through this.

With love,

Iara, Sofía and Julia