Photo: Gideon Sharon, KKL-JNF Photo Archive
The ceremony took place on November 25, 2020 at the Mevo Modi'im Forest with the participation of the victims' families and in the presence of Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David, Na'amat Chairperson Hagit Pe'er, KKL-JNF World Chairman Avraham Duvdevani and KKL-JNF Workers Union Chairman Yisrael Goldstein .
KKL-JNF Workers Union Chairman Yisrael Goldstein: "I have participated in many tree planting ceremonies over the years, but this is the first time that the thought that even one more tree will be planted in this grove makes me shudder. If it were only possible, I would do everything within my ability so that even the twenty trees that we are planting here today in their memory wouldn't have been planted at all. I hope and pray that we will meet here next year without having to plant even one new tree. May the memory of all the victims of domestic violence be blessed".
Na'amat Chairperson Hagit Pe'er: "It is impossible to accept a situation in which we stand here today and plant trees in memory of twenty victims of the plague of domestic violence. We must remember that for every woman whose life was taken so cruelly, there are tens of thousands of additional women who are sitting in their homes in terror and fear, and the next tree we plant here could be for any one of them. One out of every three victims filed a complaint with the police before she was murdered! We cannot accept this! We must work together in order to make certain that the grove we are planting here today will not become a forest. We remember the victims of domestic violence, each of them has a name and a family and people who miss them."
Histadrut Chairperson Arnon Bar-David: "We look at these names here in the forest, and our hearts ache. How did we get to such a level of violence? The next murder can be prevented, and the entire Israeli society must be a part of this struggle. We must join hands in order to uproot this phenomenon entirely and break the cycle of violence. Until the state provides a systematic solution with an appropriate budget that can provide an effective response, it is the moral responsibility of each and every one of us to help anyone who is caught in the cycle of violence and to increase awareness in order to prevent the next similar instance."