Israel's Memorial Day ceremony for victims of terror began at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl cemetery early Wednesday afternoon.
The memorial service was opened by Rabbi Uri Sherki, whose son Shalom was murdered in a car-ramming attack in Jerusalem last year. Rabbi Sherki recited the traditional mourner's kaddish prayer, which was followed by the yizkor memorial prayer.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu then ascended the podium to speak, but - in what has become a yearly phenomenon - was interrupted by the relative of a victim of terror. Netanyahu paused to allow the man - who could not be heard clearly and whose identity has yet to be confirmed - to finish his impassioned intervention, before starting his own speech.
"Enough apologizing to terrorists!" the man shouted to the prime minister.
"I understand you... I understand the pain," Netanyahu told the man, who collapsed back into his chair in tears.
Watch: Netanyahu heckled by bereaved family member:
"As a bereaved relative I feel your pain, as a citizen I stand with you, as prime minister I will strengthen you," he told the assembled.
Describing Israel's war against Arab terrorism as a "national, generational struggle", he voiced confidence that the Israeli nation would withstand all the challenges, as it has in the past.
"We are in a generational struggle, and I salute you for your endurance," Netanyahu told the bereaved families.
"We do not wave a flag of hostilities. We believe in brotherhood, reaching out for peace, to the nations of the world and to our neighbors, in accordance with the passage 'Nation shall not lift sword against nation,'" he continued, quoting the prophet Isaiah. "Who wrote that if not our prophet?"
Israel's enemies, however, refuse to reciprocate.
"Our enemies refuse to accept that we are here - they see all of us as targets for attack - uniformed soldiers and civilians, Jews or not.
"They attack women and children, elderly men and elderly women - as occurred just yesterday," he added, referring to the stabbing of two elderly Jewish women by Arab terrorists in Jerusalem.
"Their lust is the product of blind hated, the results of wild incitement. The names change, but the motivations remain."
"You are not alone... the nation is with you."