The Embassy held a memorial event on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai Terrorist Attack, in memory of the victims of the dastardly attack which took the lives of 166 civilians and security personnel, including 25 foreign nationals. The event was attended by Ambassador Michael Ronen, Director, South & South East Asia Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Mr. Shimon Rosenberg, grand father of Moshe Holtzberg who lost his parents in the attack, and members of the Indian community. The ceremony began with the observance of a minute’s silence in honour of the victims. 

2.  Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador stressed that the worst terrorist attack on the Indian soil “should motivate the world to unite against terrorism and to defeat the ideology of hatred”. He added that the planners and facilitators of the attack in Pakistan have not yet been brought to justice and, in this context, welcomed the statement of the US Secretary of State and expressed hope that other countries would follow the US lead and call upon Pakistan to uphold its obligations to implement sanctions against the terrorists responsible for this atrocity, including Lashkar-e-Taeba and its affiliates.  

3.  Mr. Shimon Rosenberg, who lost his daughter and son-in-law in the attack, said that the attack was not just against his family but against all of us – who are one as a family. He further said that although 10 years have passed since the tragedy, his grandson who is a “strong and good boy” has painful memories of the event but still wants to go to Mumbai for his bar mitzvah.He appreciated the gesture from the Indian Embassy and also mentioned that he received calls from press/TV reporters from Mumbai and from his friends in India and in Israel to express solidarity. 

4.  Ambassador Michael Ronen, who represented the Government of Israel at the ceremony, said that it is important to provide full justice to the victims and their families. In this context, he urged “all governments, including the Government of Pakistan, to ensure that perpetrators and facilitators of the attack are brought to justice”. He also underlined that the objective was to attack the Indian society, economy & culture, as well as the growing bilateral relationship between India and Israel. In this regard, “the terrorist attack failed miserably as the Indian economy has continued to grow stronger, its culture remains invincible and bilateral ties continue to reach new heights”. Lastly, he reiterated that terrorism can only be defeated by international cooperation and again “called upon the Government of Pakistan to ensure full justice to the victims and their families”. 

5.  After brief remarks as above, two short clips featuring Moshe Holtzberg’s conversation with PM Modi and PM Netanyahu in Jerusalem (July 2017) and his visit (along with PM Netanyahu), to  the Chabad House in Mumbai in January 2018, were shown. Thereafter, Ambassador Pavan Kapoor, along with Ambassador Michael Ronen and Mr. Shimon Rosenberg, lit 25 candles in memory of the 25 foreign nationals who lost their lives in the attack. Earlier in the day, in the context of the 10^th anniversary of the attack, Mr. Yuval Rotem, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted that “Israel stands in solidarity with India against terrorism and in memory of its victims. May their memory be a blessing”.