Defense officials plan to recommend that the Yizkor text that was the subject of a dispute last year be officially included in Memorial Day services at military cemeteries.

The dispute centered around whether the words “Yizkor Elohim” (“May God remember” ) or “Yizkor Am Yisrael” (“May the nation of Israel remember” ) should be used. In the end, the second version won out.

The decision to officially recommend the text was made after the text – either version – was omitted from many Memorial Day ceremonies this year, apparently due to confusion after last year’s debate.

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Though the Yizkor text for fallen soldiers is modeled after the traditional Yizkor memorial prayer, it is not a prayer, but a text penned by Labor Zionist leader Berl Katznelson in the 1920s. It was never a required element in military memorial services, though it was read at many services.

Last year a debate erupted over a version recited in military cemeteries, which began with “Yizkor Elohim,” although Katznelson’s original version began with “Yizkor Am Yisrael.” The change, made after the Six-Day War by IDF Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren, raised no complaints until last year, when a secular bereaved mother raised the issue and the media picked up on it.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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