On forgiveness - Jonathan Lis in Haaretz:

‘President Isaac Herzog apologized on Friday on behalf of himself and the State of Israel for the 1956 Kafr Qasem massacre of Arabs in the Israeli village, at a ceremony commemorating the victims.
“I bow my head before the memory of the 49 victims. I bow my head before you, their families, and before the inhabitants of Kafr Qasem throughout the ages," Herzog said, "and on behalf of myself and the State of Israel, I ask for forgiveness.” Although he gave his address in Hebrew, the president then repeated the apology in Arabic.’

(…)

‘Israeli Border Policemen carried out the massacre in the village on October 29, 1956, the first day of the Suez Crisis. Forty-eight men, women and children were murdered, including a pregnant woman. Her fetus is counted in the village as the 49th murder victim.
Herzog said in his address that he supports adding the massacre to the school curriculum "in an organized fashion." "All across the State of Israel, students at school, youth movement participants, soldiers, commanders, and officers in the IDF and all the security forces learn about this terrible event and the lessons learned from it," he said.
Herzog is not the first Israeli official to issue an apology for the massacre. In 2007, then-President Shimon Peres also apologized for the massacre during a visit to the city. "In the past a tragedy had happened here, for which we're very sorry." Former Education Minister Yossi Sarid had also apologized and promoted the topic in the Israeli educational curriculum.’

Read the article here.

There is often time needed before a state will ask for forgiveness, and some states never ask for forgiveness, and best they provide the victims and their descendants with some money. (No, I’m not speaking about Germany.)

It’s not enough. But it’s something.
And the symbolism, especially the symbolism of the president of Israel asking for forgiveness in Arabic, should not be underestimated.