“We Must Take Our Fate Into Our Own Hands,” Zamir Says Ahead of Yom HaShoah

Eyal Zamir issued a letter to the IDF on Monday, hours before Israel began marking Yom HaShoah, urging soldiers to draw a direct lesson from Jewish history. “The lessons of Jewish history teach that when our existence is threatened, we must take our fate into our own hands,” Zamir wrote.

His message came as Israel enters Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day under the shadow of an ongoing multi-front war, with the chief of staff tying the memory of the Holocaust directly to the country’s current security reality. 

Marking the day, Zamir wrote that Yom HaShoah commemorated “the communities that were erased from the face of the earth; the voices of the boys and girls, the men and women, the elderly and the young, who were led to the death pyres and shot in killing pits; and the partisans and underground fighters who struggled and rose up even when it seemed all hope was lost.”

He framed the Holocaust not only as a moment of destruction but as the foundation of Israel’s rebirth. “From the ashes, the loss, and the devastation, a clear cry arose: to be a free people in our land,” he wrote, adding that Holocaust survivors “rose and built it with bare hands and with deep faith.”

Zamir stressed that the threats facing Israel today are part of a continuing historical pattern. “From the day of its establishment, the State of Israel has stood before a real existential threat,” he wrote, adding that since October 7, “for more than two years, the IDF has been operating without pause in a fateful campaign to remove existential threats, significantly harm our enemies, and fortify security.”

He described the current conflict as an unprecedented multi-front war against Iran and its regional proxies, saying the acts of heroism displayed during the fighting “will be engraved in the history of the State of Israel.”

Turning to the role of today’s soldiers, Zamir emphasized continuity between past and present generations. “We who wear the uniform of the IDF carry with us a legacy passed down from generation to generation—a legacy of a spirit that refuses to break, of a people that chose life and freedom even in its darkest hours,” he wrote. “Now it is our turn to be a vital link in the chain of defenders who came before us; to stand guard over the homeland, to defend our home, and to ensure that the memory of the past will be our compass—Never Again.”

Across the country, Israel will begin marking Yom HaShoah on Monday evening with the official state ceremony at Yad Vashem, which was pre-recorded and broadcast due to ongoing security restrictions. The ceremony included addresses by Isaac Herzog and Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Tuesday morning at 10 a.m., a two-minute siren will sound nationwide, bringing daily life to a halt as Israelis stand in silence in memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Public ceremonies, educational programs, and survivor testimonies are scheduled to take place throughout the day, though some events have been adjusted due to the security situation.

Established in 1951 and observed annually on the 27th of Nissan, Yom HaShoah remains one of Israel’s most solemn national days. This year’s official theme, “The Jewish Family During the Holocaust,” highlights the personal and communal dimensions of the tragedy, even as the country marks the day amid an ongoing war and renewed focus on its ability to defend itself.