Originally appeared in JNS.org on April 14, 2026

“As prime minister of Israel, I have promised: ‘There will not be a second Holocaust.’ This year, we turned that promise into reality,” Netanyahu said.

Due to security considerations, Israel’s opening ceremony for Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day) at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem did not take place live this year. Instead, audiences across the globe were invited to participate via a prerecorded broadcast aired at 8 p.m. Monday Israel time on Israeli television channels.

Viewers paused to reflect and take part in a shared act of memory, hearing directly from survivors and Israeli leaders while honoring the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

This year’s theme, “The Jewish Family During the Holocaust,” highlighted the family as a source of identity, strength and human connection even in the face of unimaginable loss. In ghettos, concentration camps and hiding places, families preserved dignity and hope under the harshest conditions, Yad Vashem said, noting that many survivors went on to rebuild their lives in Israel.

The Jewish state is home to some 111,000 survivors, according to government estimates released ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day 2026.

Following the lowering of the national flag, Rabbi Yisrael (Israel) Meir Lau, 88, a Holocaust survivor and former chief rabbi of Tel Aviv and Israel who now serves as chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, lit a memorial torch.

Netanyahu’s address

In his address, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a direct line between the lessons of the Holocaust and Israel’s war against Iran and its regional proxies, declaring that the Jewish state today possesses the strength that was absent during the darkest chapter of Jewish history.

“In the Holocaust, the poet Uri Zvi Greenberg wrote: ‘We were an extinct people like a wild beast in a hunt,’” Netanyahu said. “In contrast, today our people fight back against our oppressors. During the Holocaust, we were like an abused animal crying in agony. Today, however, we have a state which is stronger than ever, which roars with power.”

Netanyahu stressed the importance of Israel’s military campaign against Iran, saying that through “Operation Rising Lion” and “Operation Roaring Lion,” Israel, together with the United States, had significantly weakened Tehran’s capabilities.

“Together, we crushed the evil regime in Iran to dust,” he said, adding that the ayatollahs had sought nuclear weapons and tens of thousands of ballistic missiles “intended to annihilate us,” while funding terror proxies aimed at encircling Israel in a “ring of fire.”

Reaffirming a longstanding commitment, Netanyahu said: “Year after year, I stand here and pledge at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony: ‘We will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.’ As prime minister of Israel, I have promised: ‘There will not be a second Holocaust.’ This year, we turned that promise into reality.”

The prime minister reflected on the historic vulnerability of Jews during World War II, posing questions about whether earlier action might have prevented the catastrophe. “Citizens of Israel, looking back at the Holocaust, the question ‘what if’ arises in all its bluntness,” he said. “What if we had a state before the catastrophe? What if the nations of Europe had stopped the monstrous Nazism in time instead of appeasing it?”

“There are no ‘what ifs’ in history,” Netanyahu continued. “The terrible disaster happened. But given all this, we are acting so that future generations will not ask ‘what if’ with a sense of missed opportunity.”

Netanyahu highlighted Israel’s close strategic cooperation with Washington, describing an unprecedented partnership with U.S. President Donald Trump. “We have changed the course of history,” he said. “The independent State of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s security organizations—all of these are manifestations of our regaining control over our destiny after centuries of horrible weakness.”

He said Israel’s actions also serve broader global interests. “On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, let us remember that the State of Israel is at the peak of its power,” Netanyahu said. “Who could have imagined 80 years ago that our daring Air Force pilots and American military pilots would defend the Middle East, wing to wing? We are defending Israel, the United States and … we are defending Europe.”

Addressing Holocaust survivors directly, Netanyahu praised the transformation from destruction to renewal. “No other nation could have accomplished what we have done: to bring about this immense transformation, from Holocaust to rebirth,” he said.

Concluding his remarks, Netanyahu praised the resilience of Israel’s soldiers. Quoting from the Book of Chronicles, he described them as “mighty men of valor … whose faces were like the faces of lions,” adding, “As a nation of lions, we shall continue, with God’s help, to roar the roar of eternity.”

Herzog’s address

Israeli President Isaac Herzog shared the moving story of fallen soldier Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri, 26, and his great-grandmother, Magda Baratz, who survived the Holocaust. Baratz, 96, was visiting the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany when her great-grandson, a reservist in the IDF Armored Corps, fell in battle in the Gaza Strip on April 24, 2025. She died 15 days later.

“There are moments within this war in which the story of one family sheds light on and tells the story of an entire nation,” Herzog said. “When Michal and I arrived to console the Cafri family at their home in Beit Hashmonaim and met Asaf’s dear parents, Yifat and Hagai, his brother, and his partner, I could not help but notice a woman sitting to the side, quiet and withdrawn. Her eyes were sorrowful, as though carrying a pain both old and new. I approached her and asked who she was. ‘I am Magda, Asaf’s great-grandmother.’”

The president recounted Baratz’s harrowing story of being imprisoned with her family at 15 in a ghetto in Transylvania before being deported to Auschwitz. She endured forced labor, starvation and death marches, and witnessed the murder of her parents and a sibling.

In the spring of 1945, she was liberated from Bergen-Belsen, weighing only 20 kilograms (44 pounds). At the detention camp in Cyprus, on her journey to Israel, she met her husband, Ze’ev. After immigrating to Israel, she started a family. Her firstborn daughter, Racheli—Asaf’s grandmother—was born during Israel’s War of Independence.

“This is my victory: to survive, to immigrate to the Land of Israel and to establish a dynasty,” Baratz would say, Herzog recounted. “Indeed, she established a magnificent dynasty: children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Generation after generation of renewal, love of humanity, the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.”

Six years ago, ahead of Yom Hashoah, a photograph of Baratz and Asaf was featured on a billboard. On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, Baratz was invited to attend a ceremony there as a guest of honor, accompanied by her family. It was there, Herzog said, that she received the devastating news: Her beloved great-grandson, Asaf, had fallen in battle defending the State of Israel.

“Last year, shortly before we parted with the Cafri family, Magda Baratz asked to share a final message with us. From the depths of her sorrow, in moments of unbearable grief, Magda, the Holocaust survivor and bereaved great-grandmother, chose a message of hope. ‘I continue to believe that it will be good here. I may no longer be here, but it will be good here. I believe this with all my heart,’ Magda told us.

“This hope, this faith that Magda left us, is not hers alone. It is the hope that you have bequeathed to us—and this hope, this knowledge, so Jewish, so Israeli—we carry with us.

Herzog offered words of encouragement to the security forces currently defending the country. “To each and every one of you, I say: This is a prolonged campaign, but I am confident that we will emerge from it strengthened and empowered.”

He continued: “Our eyes look toward the heavens and pray for the safety and success of the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and all the security forces wherever they may be. Let us not forget: 81 years after the Holocaust, the striped prisoner’s uniform has been replaced by the IDF uniform, worn by the grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. For them, it is a tremendous privilege to continue your path and ensure the security of Israel.”

The six torch-lighters

Following a musical interlude by Israeli singer Roni Daloomi, six Holocaust survivors and family members lit torches representing the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The stories of Saadia Bahat, Michael Sidko, Miriam (Daisy) Bar Lev, Moshe Harari, Ilana Fallach and Avigdor Neumann reflected the geographic breadth of the Holocaust and the resilience of survivors who rebuilt their lives in Israel.

• Bahat was born in Lithuania, survived ghettos and labor camps and reached Mandatory Palestine after liberation by Soviet forces. He fought in Israel’s War of Independence, built a career as an engineer at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and later became an award-winning sculptor.

• Sidko, born in Kyiv, witnessed the murder of his mother and siblings at Babi Yar. He and his siblings were sheltered by a Ukrainian woman who claimed them as her sons and saved their lives. After the war, he reunited with his father, served in the Red Army, became an engineer and immigrated to Israel in 2000.

• Bar Lev, born in Tel Aviv in 1936, returned with her family to Amsterdam, where they were deported to Westerbork and later Bergen-Belsen. She immigrated to Israel in 1946, settled on Kibbutz Ginegar, served in the IDF and became a nurse.

• Harari was born in Poland, escaped the Mordy Ghetto and hid with a Polish farmer. After liberation in 1944, he and surviving relatives faced continued antisemitism before immigrating to Israel, where he worked in the defense industry.

• Fallach was born in Benghazi, Libya, and deported with her family to the Giado concentration camp in 1942. The family immigrated to Israel in 1949.

• Neumann was born in Czechoslovakia and deported with his family to Auschwitz. He survived selections and death marches before being liberated in 1945. After being detained in Cyprus, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine.

Haviva Burst, a Holocaust survivor born in Wojsławice, Poland, delivered an address on behalf of all survivors. “I don’t remember my parents’ faces, but I remember what it felt like to be part of a big, happy family,” she said, noting that after making aliyah in 1947, marrying her late husband of 72 years and rebuilding her life in Israel, “I learned how essential family is.”

The ceremony concluded with a psalm recited by Rabbi Kalman Meir Ber, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel; the Kaddish mourners’ prayer by Hacham David Yosef, the Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel; the El Maleh Rachamim memorial prayer by Holocaust survivor and retired Haifa judge Menachem Neeman; and the singing of “Hatikvah,” the Israeli national anthem.

Read more

Originally appeared in jns.org on March 29, 2026

Joshua Berman’s new Haggadah tells the Passover story through the lens of ancient Egypt.

Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman’s distinctive new Haggadah, Echoes of Egypt: A Haggadah, was inspired by his four trips to the Land of the Nile.

The visually rich Haggadah, published in Jerusalem by Koren Publishers, presents the Exodus narrative through the lens of ancient Egyptian culture. It sheds light on phrases and concepts in the Hebrew Bible, dispels the misconception that the Israelites built the pyramids, and includes museum-quality photographs of artifacts, idols and inscriptions for seder participants of all ages.

Berman, an Orthodox rabbi and professor in the Zalman Shamir Department of Bible at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, playfully described the roots of his fascination with Egypt and his desire to visit the land the Israelites left millennia ago.

“I think anyone who has been raised in America has a little bit of a streak of Indiana Jones and King Tut in him,” he said in a recent interview with JNS. “When you get into the Bible, you see the connection between Egyptian culture and things in the Torah. You begin to get the sense that there are a whole bunch of dots that can begin to connect to larger thematic points that the Torah is making.

“This had always been of great interest to me, and I had always wanted to visit Egypt. But I didn’t want to just go to Egypt and stare at pyramids. I wanted to go with someone who could make the connections.”

The opportunity came in January 2021, when Berman visited Egypt with American Egyptologist and Bible scholar Professor James Hoffmeier and a group of 15 Christian clergy and scholars. The rabbi, who always wears a yarmulke—even in Egypt—said it was reassuring to have “15 Christian bodyguards.”

Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman holds a copy of his new Haggadah, March 2026. Credit: Koren Jerusalem.

Visiting Egypt

Accustomed to visiting biblical sites in Israel, Berman immediately noticed a striking contrast with the archaeological remains he encountered in Egypt.

“The experience in Egypt surveying and going through the archaeological sites is unlike anything that we have here.”

He cited the example of touring the Elah Valley, the site of the biblical account of David and Goliath. Berman noted that there is “nothing to see,” whereas “in Egypt, it is all still there on the walls, in full color.”

Reflecting on his first visit, Berman said, “The things I saw were so remarkable. It is a blow-away experience.” He recalled thinking, “Jews have to see this!” After the Abraham Accords made travel to Egypt easier for Israelis, he led two groups there in each of the following two years, 2022 and 2023.

Berman acknowledged that one can gain some sense of the power of the pharaohs, or the labor of ancient slaves, through images in books. “But in coming to Egypt, suddenly what you are looking at shines a bright light on the text that you thought you knew.”

An important insight came to Berman while inside the tomb of Ramesses III in the Valley of the Kings.

“I saw an Egyptian incense censer depicted on the wall, and suddenly a passage in Numbers I had known for years came alive.”

Berman cited the verse read on Chanukah in which the tribal leaders bring an offering—“a vessel called a kaf with 10 units of gold, filled with incense.” He explained that the precise meaning of the term kaf has long been unclear. In modern Hebrew, kaf can mean a spoon or the palm of a hand, and commentators have suggested it may refer to a cup, bowl or shovel.

“We are standing in the cave, and Hoffmeier shows me Ramesses III offering incense to the deities. He is holding an elaborate vessel with a long gold rod. At the end of the gold rod is a sculpted gold hand holding a sculpted gold cup, from which waft out the odors of the incense. The way in which they offer incense is through this vessel.

“This explains the biblical verse. The idea behind it is that the Pharaoh wants to give something to the deity. But you can’t just hand the deity a cup. There is transcendence between God above and the human below. Using the cup demonstrates the desire to be close without violating the distance necessary between the divine and the human realm. It explains the verse and something we use in our own practice—the yad (Torah pointer). We have impurity in our hands but want to be close to the Torah.”

This discovery ultimately served as both the inspiration and the impetus for Berman’s Haggadah. “In that moment, I realized these visual keys to the biblical text needed to be shared.”

Encountering the Exodus

At its core, Echoes of Egypt invites readers to encounter the Exodus story within the world in which it first unfolded. By situating the Haggadah within the cultural landscape of ancient Egypt, the book offers fresh perspectives on familiar passages.

The Haggadah begins with two essays—one on how the Torah departed from ancient political thought, and another on “how the Torah transformed Egyptian propaganda.” It then presents a traditional Koren Haggadah, with text translated by Jessica Sacks and explanatory notes by Berman.

A photograph on page 38 of the storage cities of “Pithom and Ramses” includes Berman’s note: “There is a persistent misconception that our ancestors were the builders of the pyramids.” He explained that “the Egyptians ceased building pyramids around 1600 BCE, long before the era of Israelite slavery.” The image shows “vast mudbrick storage facilities, built on an area equal to 15 American football fields.”

Berman said that because he did not set out to produce a thematic or line-by-line commentary, he “didn’t have to say something about everything.”

He also expressed appreciation for the team at Koren Publishers, who secured permissions for the images and developed the layout, which he described as “extremely tricky,” given the need to present Hebrew and English text alongside images on a single spread “without turning the page—not easy to pull off!”

Berman, the author of numerous books, recently launched a podcast, The Bible Bar, in which he and fellow scholars guide listeners through the Bible one chapter at a time.

Read more

Originally appeared in jns.org, March 24, 2026

Although players will not compete in the Billie Jean King Cup event in Bosnia, they will retain their ranking level for next year.

The Israel Tennis Association (ITA) has announced that Israel’s women’s national team will not participate in the Billie Jean King Cup tournament in April, citing security concerns related to travel and the current regional situation.

Israel had been scheduled to compete against Bosnia in the Europe/Africa Group II event. According to the ITA, concerns centered on both the security situation in Israel and the players’ safety while traveling abroad. Officials also noted sensitivities about competing in a destination perceived as less friendly toward Israel at this time, as well as the participation of teams from several Muslim-majority countries, including Egypt and Morocco.

The Billie Jean King Cup, formerly known as the Fed Cup, is the premier international team competition in women’s tennis and is often referred to as the “World Cup of Tennis.” This year’s competition features a record 148 nations competing across four regions: Africa, the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe.

Israel previously hosted the Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I tournament in Eilat in 2012, 2013 and 2016.

The ITA said it considered hosting this year’s event in Israel but determined it was not feasible given the current security circumstances.

Ronen Morali, captain of Israel’s team, said, “This was the right and wisest decision under the current circumstances. Following the concerns expressed by the players, most of whom are very young, and due to the understanding that we will not be harmed professionally by the move, we decided to submit an official request to the ITF not to participate in the tournament.”

The International Tennis Federation accepted the ITA’s formal request to withdraw.

Morali noted that, if the trip had been scheduled to take place now, “The Israeli security authorities would not have authorized us to go.”

He added, “Our responsibility is first and foremost to protect the players’ safety and security.”

Jonathan Erlich, captain of Israel’s Davis Cup team and a former Israeli doubles player, faced similar security challenges in September 2025, when Israel competed against Canada in a Davis Cup World Group I tie in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The matches were played without spectators at the Scotiabank Centre due to security concerns.

Erlich supported the women’s team’s decision. “I think they made the right decision. Going to a country that in normal days we not been loved so now will be too risky.”

David Wiseman, founder of the Facebook page Follow Team Israel, which highlights stories about Israeli and Jewish athletes and has more than 160,000 followers, said security considerations increasingly affect Israeli participation in international competitions.

“The unfortunate reality is that this is the world we live in. There are too many geopolitical considerations when an Israeli sports team competes around the world,” Wiseman said.

He cited recent examples in which Israeli athletes were unable to participate in international events.

In January 2024, Israel’s rock-climbing team and its top climber, Ayala Kerem, were barred from competing in the Dock Masters 2024 competition in Utrecht, Netherlands, due to concerns about potential security threats.

In October 2025, Israeli gymnasts, including Olympic medalist Artem Dolgopyat, were denied entry visas to the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Read more

Originally appeared in jns.org, March 19, 2026

Home Front Command and “purple” initiatives help vulnerable populations access shelters, information and essential services.

As Iranian and Hezbollah missile attacks continue across Israel, people with disabilities and the elderly face unique and often overlooked challenges—from reaching shelters in time to coping with overstimulating environments once inside.

In response, the Home Front Command and a range of civil society initiatives are working to ensure that vulnerable populations remain safe, informed and supported.

For many, the obstacles are immediate and practical. Individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing may not hear warning sirens. Those with mobility impairments may struggle to access shelters. People with autism can find crowded, noisy spaces overwhelming.

“The most important thing is planning ahead and knowing the safest place,” said Tami Durst, the Home Front Command’s professional academic officer and desk commander for people with disabilities. “It is proven that following the guidelines and getting to a shelter on time saves lives.”

The Home Front Command has adapted its emergency guidance to reach diverse populations, offering materials in multiple languages, including English, Russian and Amharic, and tailoring content for different disabilities.

Services include sign-language training videos with subtitles, phone alerts using repeated vibrations or flashing lights for those who are deaf, and simplified, illustrated materials for people with intellectual disabilities.

“Booklets have illustrations and simply explain things such as what a missile is,” Durst said.

The agency conducts daily Zoom sessions for people with disabilities, partnering with organizations such as ALUT (autism), Elwyn (multiple disabilities) and Migdal Or (visual impairments).

In Israel, families can call 104 for assistance or request group briefings.

Shavvim volunteers operating the Purple Hotline, March 2026. Credit: Shavvim.

Nonprofits play key role

Beyond government efforts, nonprofit organizations are playing a critical role.

Access Israel estimates that roughly 25% of Israel’s population—about 2.6 million people—are individuals with disabilities or older adults who may need assistance during emergencies.

Shavvim, an advocacy and media platform focused on disability issues, estimates that more than 1.6 million Israelis live with disabilities, a number that has risen sharply since Oct. 7, 2023, due to injuries and trauma.

Both groups operate initiatives known as “purple” campaigns, a reference to the color associated with International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Access Israel’s Purple Vest Mission mobilizes trained volunteers to assist individuals in reaching accessible shelters, relocating to protected housing when necessary and obtaining essential supplies during prolonged emergencies.

“Emergencies do not affect everyone equally,” said Michal Rimon, founder of the Purple Vest Mission and CEO of Access Israel. “For people with disabilities and older adults, it takes more time to reach safety; even a few seconds can mean the difference between safety and tragedy.”

Jamie Lassner, executive director of Accessibility Accelerator and a volunteer with the initiative, said the program’s impact lies in preparation.

“They understand accessibility, they understand disability, and they act with urgency, compassion and dignity,” she said. “That preparation is no longer theoretical. It is saving lives.”

Shavvim operates a “Purple Hotline,” offering emergency assistance and rights-based support for people with disabilities and their families.

The hotline grew out of an operations center established after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, fielding calls from individuals unable to reach shelters, access medication or evacuate safely. It also assisted newly injured reservists in navigating rehabilitation systems and the families of children with complex needs.

“We received calls from wheelchair users who couldn’t get to a safe room, from people needing food or medicine, and from parents struggling to care for children with special needs during constant alerts,” said Idan Motola, founder and CEO of Shavvim.

The hotline, relaunched on March 1 after a previous pause, has assisted more than 4,500 people to date. Among its efforts, volunteers distributed hundreds of tablets to children with autism spending extended periods in shelters.

Motola said hotline operators were called, inter alia, by families without protected spaces and from those unable to obtain medication or food, calls from parents of children with complex needs who could not evacuate safely, and from newly injured reservists encountering Israel’s rehabilitation and welfare systems for the first time.

“We received calls from wheelchair users who couldn’t get to a safe room or shelter, and from people with food requests, those with husbands on reserve duty, those needing to buy medicine and people needing help babysitting kids while they ran an errand. We also got requests for tablets for families of children with autism spending a lot of time in the shelter. We gave out 250!”

Shirly Pinto Kadosh, Israel’s first deaf member of Knesset and a longtime advocate for accessibility, said the initiative addresses critical gaps.

“People with disabilities in Israel still face dangerous barriers during war and daily life alike,” she said. “The Purple Hotline is meant to ensure that no one is left alone when systems become impossible to navigate.”

As the war continues, organizers said the goal is not only to respond to immediate needs but to build lasting systems of support that extend beyond times of crisis.

Read more