Ahead of Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, the Defense Ministry’s commemoration branch is launching a new smartphone app with information on all events held by bereaved families across the country and throughout the year.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 2, the idea for the app was conceived by the father of a soldier who fell in battle during Operation Protective Edge, Israel’s war against Hamas in the summer of 2014.
Ofer Mendelovitch, father of 21-year-old Golani Brigade fighter Staff Sgt. Oz Mendelovitch, took his idea to the commemoration branch, and together with the Defense Ministry’s Telecommunications Division, they developed the app, called Mehabkim Kol Hashanah – “Embracing All Year Round.”
Over the past few weeks, bereaved families were invited to upload the location-based app, which includes the schedules of all kinds of memorial activities, such as hikes, races, bike rides, tournaments, and other events organized by the loved ones or comrades-in-arms of Israelis killed during war or in terrorist attacks.
Defense Ministry deputy director-general and Commemoration Department head Aryeh Mualem told Channel 2, “We hope through this app to help bereaved families inform wide sectors of the public about memorial events for their loved ones, so that even those who didn’t know the fallen personally can participate.”
In addition to the new app, Channel 2 said, the Defense Ministry’s website “Yizkor” for fallen IDF soldiers was updated for smartphone surfing, enabling users to read the stories of the fallen and to light virtual candles in their memory. The site also provides directions to military cemeteries, burial plots and individual graves.
Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror begins Tuesday evening and continues for the next 24 hours, at the end of which Israelis immediately launch into Independence Day celebrations. This Wednesday evening marks the 68th year since Israel’s establishment in 1948.
By: The Algemeiner