Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marked the country’s annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror on Monday by calling on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to cease doling out payment to the killers of Israelis, beseeching him to “fund peace and not murder.”

At a ceremony at Israel’s Har Herzl national cemetery in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Palestinian killers “nursed incitement against our people with their mother’s milk” and were regarded as heroes in their society for carrying out heinous attacks against Israelis.

Netanyahu also accused the Palestinian Authority of Abbas, who is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump this week, of compensating the attackers to the tune of $300 million a year.

“How can you talk about peace with Israel while you simultaneously fund murderers that are shedding the blood of innocent Israelis everywhere?” Netanyahu said. “Cancel payments to the murderers. Cancel the law that requires payments to these murderers. Fund peace and not murder.”

The Palestinian “martyrs’ fund” makes monthly payments to about 35,000 families of Palestinian terrorists.

Netanyahu’s comments came as Israel observed Memorial Day, one of its most somber days on the year.

The country came to a standstill at 11 a.m. for a two-minute air siren to remember its war dead and victims of deadly attacks. Motorists pulled over on the sides of highways and roads and pedestrians stopped in their tracks silently with heads bowed as the sirens wailed. People visited cemeteries and attended remembrance ceremonies across the country. Radio and television networks broadcast programs about battle and loss.

The sad atmosphere ends sharply at sundown, when in jarring contrast, Israelis take to the streets for Independence Day celebrations with dancing, fireworks, parties and BBQs.

(AP)