TEL AVIV – Israel came to a standstill as the entire country ground to a halt in memory of the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Israel’s official state ceremony, held under the banner «Out of the Depths: The Pain of Liberation and Growth,» took place on Wednesday night, with a shadow still cast over the nation by the Oct. 7 massacre, the ongoing war against Hamas, and the 59 people, including Americans, still being held by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a connection between the Holocaust and the current threats facing Israel: «Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were defenseless. Today, we are no longer helpless. The State of Israel is strong, the IDF is strong, and we will do whatever is necessary to return our hostages and defeat our enemies,» he said.

«No decision, no resolution can prevent us from settling the score with these despicable, terrible barbarians, who are as bad as the Nazis, who kidnapped, murdered and raped our loved ones,» added Netanyahu, in reference to Hamas.

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President Donald Trump issued a proclamation to mark the solemn occasion. «The price to humanity of the lives lost during the Shoah can never be fully grasped or understood. Yet, even in the wake of the Holocaust, a self-determined Jewish homeland rose from the ashes as the modern State of Israel,» he noted.

«Sadly, our nation has borne witness to the worst outbreak of antisemitism on American soil in generations. Nearly every day following the deadly October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Jewish Americans were threatened on our streets and in our public square – a reminder that the poison of antisemitism tragically still exists,» he added.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog vowed during the country’s main remembrance event to never allow another genocide to be perpetrated against the Jewish people.

A group of Oct. 7 survivors and relatives of survivors and victims visits Auschwitz, ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 23, 2025, in Oswiecim, Poland. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

«From this mountain of memory, Yad Vashem, we declare: We will not forget, we will not forgive and we will not remain silent. Not in the face of Hamas, not in the face of Iran, and not in the face of those who wish us harm – whether with missiles, machetes, or lies,» he said.

During the event, Holocaust survivor Gad Fartouk, 93, lit one of six memorial torches, before reciting a prayer: «May all the hostages come home soon. Amen.»

Herzog on Thursday traveled to Poland to lead the March of the Living at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. This year, 80 survivors aged 80 to 97, many of whom were liberated from Nazi death camps, were joined by an Israeli delegation of 10 freed hostages.

«We will never forget or forgive the horrors of the Holocaust. Yet every representative who has come here from the Oct. 7 delegation is a triumph of light for the Jewish people, and a reminder that the Jewish people will exist for eternity,» said former captive Eli Sharabi, who is marching in memory of his brother Yossi, whose body is still being held in Gaza.

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The gates of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, Poland, circa 1965. The sign above, «Arbeit Macht Frei,» means «Work Makes You Free.» (Keystone/GettyImages)

«The Jewish people sanctify life, not death. We come here with the hope that the covenant between the state and its citizens will be honored – that all the hostages will return, both the living to their homes and the fallen to a proper burial,» he added.

Also participating were family members of those murdered or still held captive, as well as relatives who have lost loved ones during the 18-month-long war.

Among the other participants was Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, great-grandson of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who led the Allied push to liberate Europe. This year’s March paid special tribute to the Allied forces who liberated the Nazi camps 80 years ago.

Approximately 120,000 Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel remain alive, according to official data, with around 13,000 others having died in the past year. Some 2,500 survivors were impacted by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, with most having been evacuated to safety from their homes.

An estimated 220,800 Holocaust survivors are still living in 90 countries across the globe.

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Holocaust survivor George Shefi, from Berlin, and his granddaughter, Dana Elan, point to his mother’s name in the Book of Names, listing victims of the Holocaust, at Auschwitz on April 23, 2025 in Oswiecim, Poland. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

A recent report titled «Vanishing Witnesses: An Urgent Analysis of the Declining Population of Holocaust Survivors,» projects that just half of these survivors will be living in six years, with just 30%, or about 66,250, remaining in 2035. By 2040, just 22,080 survivors will remain.

Established in 1951, Yom Hashoah is observed annually in Israel on the 27th day of the Hebrew calendar month of Nissan, falling some time in April or May, with ceremonies, programs and survivor testimonies taking place across Jewish communities worldwide.

Una caótica cobertura periodística

El Papa Francisco fue elegido como personaje del año en 2013 por la revista Time. Foto: DYN

Emoción de los argentinos en la Plaza San Pedro

El Papa Francisco, con la entonces presidenta de Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner en la misa inaugural de su papado, el 19 de marzo de 2013, en el Vaticano. Foto: ANSA

La presencia de Cristina Kirchner

FIRST ON FOX: Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest and most politically active unions in the country, contacted local California police with a plan to get arrested on purpose during a scheduled protest outside the office of GOP Rep. Young Kim, Fox News Digital has learned.

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that SEIU informed the Anaheim Police Department about a protest held Tuesday, in which they wanted to be arrested during a staged «civil-disobedience type of event.» The protesters planned to block the office entryway to prompt an arrest by police officers. 

Following conversations with law enforcement, the source said SEIU decided to go «in a different direction,» by holding a rally outside the office with «small civil disobedience toward the end,» like blocking a driver outside Kim’s office to get cited by police. 

«Sorry, I have no information on that,» an Anaheim Police Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital when reached for comment. 

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Members of SEIU contacted local California police with a plan to intentionally get arrested during a scheduled protest outside Rep. Young Kim’s office. (Getty Images)

When reached by Fox News Digital for comment, a spokesperson did not confirm or deny that SEIU called the cops on itself.

«I’m glad our action got your attention! You may have missed the real news today, which is that the lives of people with disabilities are at stake,» the spokesperson said while including information about the «devastating effects cutting Medi-Cal would have on Rep. Kim’s constituents who live with disabilities.»

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About 1,000 people gathered outside Kim’s office on Tuesday in a peaceful protest where no one was arrested, ABC 7 Eyewitness News reported.

At one point, roughly a dozen people blocked a driveway near the building. Police instructed them to move and when they refused they were marched to another parking lot and cited with tickets for blocking a roadway, the outlet reported. 

Protesters gather in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17, 2025. Protesters also gathered outside Rep. Young Kim’s office on Tuesday. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

Protests outside representatives’ offices and at their town halls have erupted during President Donald Trump’s second term, as massive layoffs and spending cuts led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have triggered outrage among Democrats across the country. 

SEIU has been at the forefront of those protests nationwide, advocating for workers’ rights and protecting Americans’ access to healthcare. The protest outside Kim’s office was about protecting Medicaid as Democrats have been sounding the alarm about potential threats to the program since Trump’s November victory. 

«The GOP budget would gut $880 BILLION from Medicaid – the biggest cut in U.S. history – just to hand $7 TRILLION to billionaires. This will hurt working families, seniors, kids, veterans & people with disabilities,» SEIU posted on Friday. 

Rep. Young Kim speaks during a hearing March 10, 2021, on Capitol Hill. (Ting Shen-Pool/Getty Images)

While Democrats have said there is no way to preserve Medicaid given Trump’s ambitious tax cuts included in his «big, beautiful bill,» Republicans have maintained that Trump will not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits. 

Kim, whom the SEIU protesters were targeting with their staged arrests, joined 12 House Republicans in a letter to House leadership opposing any budget resolution that would make cuts to Medicaid services. Her office is also shutting down the implication that congressional Republicans are hiding from their constituents. 

«I had a productive meeting with many of these local healthcare advocates last week and will continue to make clear to House leadership and my constituents that any budget resolution that cuts vital Medicaid services for the most vulnerable citizens in our community will not receive my vote. My door is always open,» Kim told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders participate in a stop on the «Fight Oligarchy» tour in Bakersfield, California, on April 15, 2025. (Reuters/Aude Guerrucci)

«Rep. Kim recently wrote to House leadership to make clear once again that any budget resolution that cuts vital Medicaid services for the most vulnerable citizens in our community will not receive her vote. She appreciates the work of these advocates on healthcare issues. She is committed to protecting and strengthening our healthcare system, including vital Medicaid services for our most vulnerable, and has worked across the aisle to expand access to care for her constituents,» a spokesperson for Kim added in a statement. 

Kim’s spokesperson said the California congresswoman was «recently ranked the most effective federal lawmaker from California» and emphasized her efficiency and bipartisan leadership in Congress. 

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Progressive protest groups organized disruptions at Republican-held town halls and local legislative offices earlier this year, effectively shutting them down. Some lawmakers, including Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., reported safety concerns following threats of violence. Many Republicans opted for tele-town halls as a result, citing productivity in a controlled environment. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the former vice presidential candidate, has joined a growing number of Democrats hosting town halls in Republican-held congressional districts, following reports that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) told congressional Republicans to stop holding in-person town hall meetings after protesters began disrupting them earlier this year.