New Defense Ministry app helps locate graves of IDF fallen soldiers

Just before the Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars, the Defense Ministry presented a new app that will make finding a specific gravesite in one of the military cemeteries easier than ever.

The app is called "Memory Lanes" (Netivei Zikaron) and was presented by the Department for Families, Remembrance and Heritage in the Defense Ministry.

It allows the public to easily locate and navigate to specific grave sites in one of Israel's military cemeteries, some of which cover huge areas, and are not easily accessible or difficult to navigate.

The name of the person whose grave one is looking for can be entered in the search bar and with the click of a button, the user will receive an accessible pedestrian route from the entrance gate of the cemetery to the grave site.

The app will also link to the memory page about the Fallen on the "Yizkor" website, feature appropriate prayers for the dead, and lets one light a virtual candle in memory of a specific person, or a general candle for the memory of all the fallen in Israel's wars.

The app, which was developed by the Defense Ministry's IT and procurement division, will first begin a pilot phase in which only a limited number of cemeteries will be available for navigation.

These are: Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv and the military cemeteries in Haifa, Beersheba, Holon, Netanya, Rishon Lezion, Kiryat Anavim, Nahariya and Petah Tikva.

Remembrance Day overshadowed by politics

This year's Remembrance Day falls on April 24-25. On Tuesday, the largest memorial ceremony began at 8:30 a.m. at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem with the reading of the names of the fallen.

Preparations for Remembrance Day this year have been overshadowed by demands from some families of fallen soldiers and opposition members that ministers should not attend the memorial ceremonies, amid ongoing controversy about the government's planned judicial reforms.

While some families were opposed to the presence of any politicians, others expressed opposition specifically to haredi ministers who did not serve in the IDF, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is scheduled to attend the memorial ceremony at Beersheba Military Cemetery on Tuesday.

Eliav Breuer contributed to this story.