Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara and their sons Yair and Avner attended a memorial ceremony Sunday evening held at Mount Herzl military ceremony in Jerusalem for the prime minister’s brother, IDF Lt.-Col. Yoni Netanyahu.
The prime minister and his brother Ido recited the Hebrew Kaddish prayer for the dead over Yoni’s grave.
It’s been 41 years since Yoni Netanyahu fell in the line of duty while commanding the elite IDF Sayeret Matkal Unit on the Fourth of July 1976 during Operation Entebbe, the operation to free the hostages being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda.
Also attending the ceremony were government ministers, Knesset members, IDF commanders past and present, and other members of the family.
Prime Minister Netanyahu makes a point of visiting the relatives of those who have lost loved ones in terror attacks, as do all other Israeli government leaders. Unlike many others, however, he is unfortunately able to relate to the experience of the victims’ families in a more visceral manner due to his own history of grief for the loss of his older brother, who he admired and loved so much.