ynet

The Second Lebanon War brought Israel’s northern communities invaluable calm which has been maintained for more than a decade, President Reueven Rivlin said Thursday in a memorial ceremony at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl for the 121 IDF soldiers killed in the war 12 years ago.

The event was also attended by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg and Defense Ministry Director-General Udi Adam.

“We paid with blood for this calm,” Rivlin added, turning to Northern Command chief Major-General Yoel Strick. “There is still a serious threat, however, and we know that out of the north an evil shall break forth.

“This year, we witnessed a flare-up on the northern front as a result of provocations from Iran and its proxies. Iran is continuing its regional subversion in the Middle East and keeps arming organizations near our borders.

“The Iranian presence is causing regional instability and could send the entire Middle East into a tailspin and instability that will affect Europe and the entire world. The State of Israel won’t stand idly by. We won’t allow an Iranian entrenchment in Syria. We are not trigger-happy, but Israel will devotedly maintain its commitment to the security of its citizens and to their wellbeing.

“From here, I would like to wish wounded IDF soldiers who have yet to return to routine activities a speedy recovery. We are still committed to doing everything in our power to find any piece of information about fallen IDF soldiers and to bring to burial our fighters whose place of burial is unknown.”

The Second Lebanon War broke out on July 12, 2006, following a planned Hezbollah attack on an IDF patrol, which resulted in the killing of soldiers Shani Turgeman, Wasim Salah Nazal and Eyal Banin and the abduction of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were likely also killed in the ambush.

Forty-four Israeli citizens and 121 IDF soldiers were killed in the 34-day war.