Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened Memorial Day on Tuesday by donning the tefillin that belonged to IDF Golani Brigade soldier First Sgt. Sean Carmeli, who fell in Operation Protective Edge.
"On Memorial Day for the Fallen in Israel's Wars, as in past years, I put on tefillin in memory of one of our heroes who fell for our revival and our freedom. This you too, I met with the emissary of the [Lubavitch] Rebbe, who brought a pair of tefillin with him, every time, belonging to another warrior, a beloved son, a hero of Israel. Every year, a different story. A different heart. An entire world. This year, I had the privilege to put on the tefillin of the hero, Sean Carmeli," Netanyahu wrote on X.
He continued: "Sean, a lone soldier who came from the United States to defend the State of Israel, chose to tie his fate with that of our nation, through deep faith and a sense of mission. He fell in battle in Gaza, but his spirit lives on with us, in the heart of the nation. When I wear his tefillin, I feel a deep inter-generational connection. Between a thousand-year-old tradition and the heroism of our time. Between silent prayer and an act of supreme devotion."
"At this moment, with the straps binding the hand and heart, I recite a silent prayer in his memory, in memory of our fallen, and for the future of our people in this land. 'And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee,' (Deuteronomy, 23)" Netanyahu concluded.