Non-Jewish Soldiers To Be Buried in Same Section as Jews at Har Herzl
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz places a flag on the grave of Yevgeny Tolochko on Memorial Day, following a controversy in which Tolochko was overlooked because he wasn?t considered Jewish. Image by haaretz
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon is expected to announce Sunday that non-Jewish soldiers will be buried in the same sections as Jewish soldiers in military cemeteries – but in different rows.
The decision follows an incident on Memorial Day when the IDF chief of staff chose not to place a flag at the grave of a fallen soldier whose Judaism was in doubt.
As a result of Sunday’s announcement, MK Elazar Stern (Hatnuah) is expected to shelve a bill under which soldiers whose Judaism is in doubt would be buried alongside their Jewish comrades.
On Memorial Day, instead of placing a flag at the grave of the most recent soldier buried at Mount Herzl, Yevgeny Tolochko, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz placed it at the grave of the most recent Jewish soldier.
Stung by criticism, the Israel Defense Forces and Defense Ministry changed the procedure so that the chief of staff places a flag at the grave of the last soldier buried, not simply the last soldier buried in the main section.
Read more at Haaretz.com.
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