Netanyahu: Threat of terror is greater than ever

As Israel commemorated Memorial Day for its fallen soldiers and victims of terror on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the global threat of terror was greater than ever and vowed that Israel would never cease to defend itself.

"We have no choice but to fight terror until it is obliterated and to defend our lives," he told bereaved families gathered for the official state ceremony on the Mount Herzl military ceremony in Jerusalem.

"This is what we have done and what we are doing. The State of Israel, through the Israel Defense Forces, has responded with war, determination and diligence, with courage and sophistication, using an incomparable morality of combat," he said.

"Terror is a war crime, the indiscriminate murder of innocent civilians," the prime minister added.

Israelis stood silently at attention on Tuesday morning as a two-minute siren wailed across the country to mark Memorial Day. The official day of remembrance opened on Monday evening and will continue into Independence Day after sundown on Tuesday.

Ceremonies were planned throughout the day at military cemeteries across the country. Two official services were held on Mount Herzl on Tuesday, one in the morning remembering fallen IDF troops and another in the afternoon for victims of terror.

Radio and television stations played somber music and devoted programs to retelling the stories of soldiers killed in battle. Movie theaters, restaurants and other places of entertainment were closed and schools held memorial services.

Netanyahu declared during the morning event on Mount Herzl that Israel would not compromise on its security for the sake of peace.

"Our hand is extended in peace to all our neighbors. But our enemies should not misunderstand: We shall never compromise on our security, the security of the state of Israel. That is our obligation to the fallen, that is our obligation to the citizens of Israel, that is our obligation to coming generations," Netanyahu said.

According to the Defense Ministry, 133 soldiers and civilians died during the past year either in the course of military service or as civilian casualties of hostile activity.

The total number of those who have been remembered by this Memorial Day is 22,570. The dead who are counted date from 1860, when Jews first settled outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The IDF has shut down checkpoints on key West Bank roads leading into Israel until after Independence Day, to avoid possible attacks by Palestinian militants in crowded city centers.

President Shimon Peres addressed Israel's bereaved families after lighting a memorial flame at the Western Wall plaza during the Memorial Day ceremony on Monday evening.

In his address, Peres went on to say that Israel's very existence was still threatened, in an apparent reference to Iran, whose president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the country to be wiped off the map.

IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi later told the tearful gathering of families and dignitaries at the Western Wall that Israel must face extremists from the Palestinian territories and from Iran.

"The declarations of Iran's president a few days ago still resonate and remind us well that in the 61st year of Israel's independence, the threats against it haven't stopped or slowed," Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi said. "Israel considers Iran a main enemy because of Ahmadinejad's threats, Iran's nuclear program and its development of long-range missiles."

After the speeches by Ashkenazi and Peres, an IDF cantor recited Kaddish, the Jewish prayer of mourning.