1.
GV Crowd around eternal flame
0.05

2.
SV Officials standing in silence
0.14

3.
SV P.M. Rabin alongside saluting officers
0.27

4.
GV Prayers being sung for dead with congregation looking on (4 shots)
0.54

5.
SV Troops at attention
0.58

6.
SV Rabin lays wreath as last post sounds (2 shots)
1.10

7.
SV Troops firing salute
1.17

8.
GV Night time ceremony Tomb of Theodor Herzl with torches lit in remembrance
1.23

9.
SV Audience listens to speech and choir (3 shots)
1.41

10.
GV Firework display
1.50



Initials BB/1920 RP/JB/BB/1935



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Unprecedented security precautions were in operation during Israel's Memorial Day on Tuesday (4 May).

The central ceremony took place at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl. Israel's Prime Minister Mr. Rabin and friends and relatives of the war dead attended the ceremony.

Soldiers stood guard at the memorial flame and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. "Kadish", the prayer for the dead, as well as "El Maleh Rakhamin" (God is Full of Mercy) were recited and chanted.

In a statement at the ceremony, Prime Minister Rabin stressed Israel's readiness for peace and called on the Arabs to achieve it.

Later that day, at a designated time the Memorial Day came to an end and Israel's 28th Independence Day was ushered in.

Representatives of Jews of the Diaspora lit beacons as their names and countries of origin were read out.

Following the ceremony, people in towns and cities throughout Israel began a night of merrymaking. In Jerusalem hundreds of thousands watched a fireworks display.

Meanwhile, the intensive security alert continued with large contingents of police and soldiers patrolling the cities and occupied areas.

The alert followed an Arab guerrilla bomb attack in Jerusalem on Monday (3 May), that left 28 people injured.