Yair Lapid hosts Yom hazikaron ceremony at Rabin S Photo: LAHAV HARKOV

Yair Lapid hosted the Tel Aviv Municipality’s Remembrance Day ceremony, “Singing in the Square,” on Tuesday night, despite protests and controversy surrounding his role.

“Singing in the Square,” which took place in Rabin Square and featured popular singers such as Mosh Ben-Ari, Omer Adam, Yoni Rechter, Zahav Ben and others performing songs about fallen IDF soldiers, is Tel Aviv’s official ceremony and is broadcast on Channel 10.

Lapid, a former news anchor who came up with the idea, has been hosting the ceremony for the past 15 years. In addition, short documentaries about the fallen are shown.

In the weeks leading up to the ceremony, various politicians, groups representing bereaved families and others spoke out against Lapid hosting the event, as he plans to run for a Knesset seat.

However, during the ceremony, Lapid refrained from saying anything that could be interpreted as political. In fact, he did not make any personal comments, simply introducing and reading poems about and by fallen soldiers.

Last month, Lapid wrote on his Facebook page that he had originated “Singing in the Square” and could continue to host it without making it political.

Unlike in previous years, Army Radio did not broadcast the ceremony, choosing to air the Remembrance Day event at the Knesset, instead. One of the reasons the station cited is that “the ceremony in Tel Aviv will be moderated by a political person.”

Meanwhile, the Almagor Terror Victims Association held an alternative ceremony in the plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, in protest of Lapid’s central role in “Singing in the Square.”

“We are angry and do not understand how, despite the requests of families of victims of terror not to give a platform to politicians on Remembrance Day, Yair Lapid took advantage of a loophole that allows him to get into every home in the country,” the organization stated.

On Monday, the High Court rejected a petition by attorney Assaf Even-Chen for an injunction to stop Lapid from participating in “Singing in the Square.”

The High Court’s reasoning was technical, relying on the fact that because Even-Chen did not include Lapid or Channel 10 in the petition and because he did not submit the complaint far enough in advance.

Yair Lapid Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

The Almagor Terror Victims Association plans to hold an alternative Remembrance Day ceremony on Tuesday night in protest of the annual Tel Aviv Municipality ceremony, which former Channel 2 journalist Yair Lapid will be hosting.

Almagor has called for the public not to attend the municipal ceremony, and to instead go to their event in front of the Tel Aviv Art Museum.

“We are angry and do not understand how, despite the requests of families of victims of terror not to give a platform to politicians on Remembrance Day, Yair Lapid took advantage of a loophole that allows him to get into every home in the country,” the organization stated.

According to Almagor, Lapid is using victims of terror and those killed in battle for his own political gain, and should not be allowed to host a government- funded ceremony.

Lapid has hosted “Singing in the Square,” a ceremony in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, in which popular singers perform songs written by the fallen, for the past 15 years.

Despite complaints from MKs and NGOs, Lapid wrote on his Facebook wall last month that he created Singing in the Square and that he can host the ceremony without politicizing it.

Sir,—The Danish ambassador to Israel reacted with critical comments because one of his nationals, an anarchist provocateur from the terrorist-affiliated International Solidarity Movement, was injured Saturday by an IDF officer (“Quick action against Eisner averts diplomatic tiff with Denmark,” April 17).

In response, the Almagor Terror Victims Association is collecting information about how Denmark deals with the dispersal of protesters.

Nine minutes of extreme violence can be viewed on YouTube.

The honored ambassador from Denmark would do well to remember the adage, “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

David S. Addleman

Mevaseret Zion

The Almagor Organization has turned to the Attorney General demanding the government prevent the execution of the Arab Machpelah House real estate agent.

Almagor threatens to file a High Court petition in light of the Cohen Committee decision to take responsibility when Arabs attempt to execute other Arabs.