Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial

Mount Herzl is west of Jerusalem, beside the Jerusalem Forest and next to Yad Vashem.[1] Within the mountain's grounds, the memorial sits at the edge of the military cemetery, beside the plot for those killed in the First Lebanon War and near memorials to the immigrant ships Salvador and Egoz. It is also adjacent to the Immigrants' Section.[5][2]

Architects Moshe and Rita Oren designed the monument using Jerusalem stone.[2] Its defining architectural elements are stone walls engraved with the names of victims, enclosing a paved inner courtyard, and a hollow cube tilted to one side positioned between the walls.[5][2] The tilted cube symbolizes the people's ability to withstand those seeking to harm the country's existence.[2] The National Insurance Institute formally identifies the venue as the Memorial Plaza for the Hostile Actions Casualties.[4] Empty wall space was retained to accommodate additional plaques as the years progressed.[6]

The first formal appeal to include victims of terrorism within Israel's state commemoration was made in 1976.[5] The Public Council for Commemoration, established in 1951 under the Military Cemeteries Law of 1950, acknowledged the issue by recommending that victims of hostile acts be mentioned on Memorial Day, but repeatedly rejected demands to amend the 1963 Memorial Day Law to include them formally.[5] The council and Yad LaBanim held that a fundamental distinction existed between soldiers or security personnel killed in battle and civilians murdered in terrorist attacks.[5]

Pressure from representatives of victims' families intensified through the 1990s, bringing the question into broad public debate about whether victims of terrorism belonged within the national commemorative framework.[5] In 1997, the government approved construction of a dedicated state memorial site for people murdered in terrorist attacks on Mount Herzl, an act characterized in academic literature as recognition of their place in the national story.[5] The memorial's establishment initially met opposition from some bereaved families, yet it was ultimately situated at Mount Herzl, and victims of hostile actions were incorporated into the official national Memorial Day observance.[2]

Yom HaZikaron falls on the 4th of Iyar, the day before Israeli Independence Day.[3] Commemoration of victims of terrorism was formally added to the observance in the late 1990s, after which it was officially named "Memorial Day for Israel's Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Hostile Acts."[5]

The memorial was constructed as a joint project of the National Insurance Institute and the Ministry of Defense.[5] Its commemorative scope extends from 1851 to the present, and the Jewish Virtual Library describes it as the main memorial for all victims of terrorism in Israel across that period.[1]

Sources record different dates for the site's establishment. The Jerusalem Post reports that a monument was erected in 1998.[7] A Times of Israel account describes the monument as inaugurated in 2000, depicting an enormous plaza surrounded by white walls nearly covered with black plaques bearing victims' names.[6] The Jewish Virtual Library records the memorial as having opened in 1997, the same year the government approved its construction.[5][1] The sources do not explain whether these dates refer to separate stages of development. The memorial stands in the National Civil Cemetery next to Helkat Gedolei Ha'Uma, the plot reserved for Israel's most distinguished citizens.[1]

Each year on Yom HaZikaron, a state memorial ceremony for victims of hostile actions in Israel and abroad is held at the memorial plaza on Mount Herzl.[1][8] The national service is held at 13:00.[3][4] Earlier in the day, a two-minute siren at 11:00 opens the main ceremony at the military cemetery.[8] Bereaved families and senior state officials attend, and the National Insurance Institute broadcasts the ceremony on its website and Facebook page.[4]

At the 2026 state ceremony, participants included President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Aivy Moses as chairman of the Organization of Victims of Hostile Actions, and Ilana Shevach representing bereaved families.[9] The commemorative practice reflects a broader national effort to honor the personal stories and lasting legacies of fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism.[10]

Bereaved families and victims' organizations have long pressed for a dedicated national memorial hall at Mount Herzl, arguing that the existing monument — however significant — does not offer the same institutional recognition accorded to fallen soldiers.[11] At the 2019 state ceremony, Aivy Moses, chairman of the Organization of Victims of Hostile Actions, publicly called for such a hall, comparable in purpose to the facility for fallen soldiers.[8]

Later that year, Prime Minister Netanyahu directed that a team be formed to advance a national memorial hall for victims of hostile actions at Mount Herzl.[11] A January 2022 report described a government-approved plan for a memorial and educational center near the existing monument that was expected to replace it. The Ministry of Welfare was assigned responsibility for establishing the center, with the National Insurance Institute overseeing its ongoing operation.[12] The estimated construction cost was approximately NIS 36 million, with annual maintenance projected at roughly NIS 1 million.[12]

In April 2023, Netanyahu laid a cornerstone for the hall, stating that victims came from different religious and political backgrounds and that their memory would be preserved for generations.[13] A 2024 report, however, found that construction had not begun and that the completion target had shifted from 2026 to 2030.[14] The victims' organization reported that promised additional funding had not been received, and Netanyahu renewed his pledge to secure the necessary budget.[14]

The memorial's history has intersected with disputes over who qualifies as a victim of terrorism and how that designation should be applied. In 2013, Israel's Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the Organization of Casualties of Terror Acts against excluding terror victims' names from a new Mount Herzl memorial for fallen IDF soldiers.[15] The organization argued that an official state memorial should not distinguish among the circumstances of death; the Ministry of Defense and Yad Lebanim countered that victims of terrorism and soldiers killed in war should be commemorated separately to preserve the distinct symbolism of the military memorial. The court upheld separate commemoration.[15]

In 2015, a separate controversy arose when the National Insurance Institute added the name of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir — a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem murdered in 2014 — to the memorial and its government-run list of terror victims.[16] After his family learned of the addition through media reports and requested removal, stating that they sought justice and punishment for his killers rather than memorial recognition, the Institute removed his name.[16] The announcement of the planned inclusion prompted protests; the organization Almagor condemned the murder but disputed its classification as terrorism, arguing that the perpetrators were not members of an enemy organization.[17] Reports also stated that at least three other Arabs killed by Jews had names on the memorial.[17]

The broader institutional debate over whether civilian victims of terrorism belonged within the same commemorative framework as fallen soldiers — a dispute that began formally in 1976 — was largely settled by government decisions in the late 1990s. The Supreme Court's 2013 ruling nevertheless confirmed that the two categories would remain distinct within Mount Herzl's commemorative geography.[5][15]