Plans for October 7th memorial ceremony unveiled amid public backlash
Southern Israeli communities remain divided over a government-organized ceremony commemorating the October 7 attacks as the Cabinet minister tasked with organizing the event presented her planned format to the media on Thursday.
Yagev Buchshtab and Nadav Popplewell are laid to rest at Kibbutz Nirim on Aug. 21, 2024. They were among six bodies recovered by soldiers from Gaza. Photo by Adele Raemer/TPS-IL
Since the preparations for the ceremony became known, some voices from the kibbutzim affected by the massacre have expressed their reservations about any government-led memorial ceremony due to the severe failure that occurred on its watch.
“This day was a difficult one, a severe failure. It led to a historical decision by the Israeli government that decided already a month after the massacre to hold memorial services and an official state remembrance ceremony on that day. The decision aims to preserve and honor the dignity of the murdered and the dignity of the families of the massacre victims,” said Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who is organizing the event.
The ceremony is expected to take place on October 27, which is two days after the anniversary on the Hebrew calendar. The event is also expected to be pre-recorded from the Gaza-border areas hardest hit by Hamas’s attack.
“I understand the feelings of those who are angry with us, with the state, with the army. There was a significant failure, and there are difficult questions to ask, and there will be time for that. Immediately after the war is over, I will be the first to act to establish an inquiry commission to address all the tough questions. But we cannot ignore the need to mark the anniversary of the massacre,” Regev said.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Monday he would boycott the event.
“I will be with the families of those murdered from Be’eri and Sderot and Nir Oz,” Lapid said. “The only ceremony that Netanyahu’s government and its extremists can and must do is resignation and the announcement of a state commission of inquiry.”
The ceremony’s director and producer, Ran Tsahor, vowed to keep the event apolitical.
“I am not a political person, not a mouthpiece for anyone, and not a rubber stamp,” he insisted on Thursday.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 105 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
