Two remembrance days in memory of October 7 - opinion

One peculiarity of the State of Israel is the large number of formally celebrated remembrance days.

Remembrance days around the world frequently commemorate events connected to wars, joyous events (such as victories), or tragic events (such as the Holocaust).

One could argue that the multiplicity of remembrance days in Israel reflects the multiplicity of wars and tragic events that befell the Jewish people in general, and the Jewish state in particular, since biblical times and more specifically during the last 85 years.

The most recently added remembrance day – that commemorating the atrocities of October 7, 2023, and their aftermath – is unusual, in that despite the general agreement in Israel that the day should be marked, there are politically based disagreements as to how the commemoration should take place.

The differences, between those who support the government and those who support the opposition, are over who is directly responsible on the Israeli side for October 7, and whether more could have been done by the government to save at least some of the 41 hostages captured alive and returned dead.

Opposition spokesmen and some of the families who received their dear ones in plastic bags blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for this tragedy and for allegedly caring more about his political survival than the fate of the hostages.

Netanyahu and his supporters argue that this criticism is unfair and libelous and fails to take into account broader national security interests.

As a result, for the past three years there have been two separate commemoration ceremonies.

Two October 7 commemorations

The first one is organized by the state on 24 Tishrei, two days after Simchat Torah, which in 2023 occurred on October 7. This ceremony is called the Remembrance Day for the Fallen of the Swords of Iron War.

This year it occurred on Monday, October 5. The ceremony, which was held on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem and was attended by President Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, was divided into two parts.

The first part was a state memorial for the casualties of the IDF and other security forces on October 7, and the three-year war that followed. The second part was a state memorial for the civilians who were massacred in the Gaza border communities on October 7, and civilian hostages killed after that in the Gaza Strip.

The second ceremony, held on October 7 in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park – the National Memorial Ceremony of October 7 Families – was organized this year by the Kumu movement.

Kumu is a nonpartisan organization of bereaved families, founded in 2024 by Yonatan Shamriz, whose brother Alon was one of three Israeli hostages who managed to escape their captivity in December 2023 but were accidentally shot by IDF forces in Gaza who failed to identify them.

Though Kumu is nonpartisan, it does not conceal the fact that it holds the government responsible for what happened on October 7. It is also critical of the fact that Netanyahu has so far failed to take personal responsibility and has avoided setting up any sort of inquiry committee to investigate who is responsible for Israel having been caught by surprise, and for some of the failures that followed.

The ceremony drew an audience of about 50,000, with no government representatives. Though the leaders of the five main Jewish opposition parties – Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, Avigdor Liberman, and Yair Golan – were present, none of them participated officially.

The two hosts of the ceremony were actress Shani Cohen and former hostage Eli Sharabi, whose wife and two daughters were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, after Eli was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri to Gaza. His brother Yossi was abducted to Gaza on the same day, but was killed while in captivity, apparently during an IAF attack on the area where he was held.

At the ceremony, survivors and bereaved family members briefly told their stories, while Cohen and Sharabi added commentary. Well-known Israeli singers also participated. It was a highly emotional event, but Sharabi distinguished himself by managing to keep a straight face throughout and concealing his emotions.

It should be noted that the National Memorial Ceremony was broadcast in full and in real time on Channels 11, 12, 13, 15 and 99. Channel 14 was the only Hebrew news channel that did not broadcast the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Channel 14 broadcast its program The Patriots, as usual.

Every once in a while, in the course of the ceremony, I switched over to Channel 14 to see whether it would show a modicum of respect for the feelings of the bereaved families and avoid attacking those attending the ceremony.

But, alas, these were false expectations. The panel members were their usual nasty, insulting, mocking selves.

One of the regular panelists stated that the supporters of the bereaved families of those killed as hostages, who could allegedly have been saved had the government acted differently, are hypocrites who don’t give a damn about the hostages, and are only interested in bringing down Netanyahu.

I expected the program’s host, Yinon Magal, to call the panelist to order in honor of the day. But he said nothing, and his facial expression indicated that he was pleased by the remark.

Then I suddenly remembered that the previous morning, on his talk show together with Ben Caspit on Radio 103fm, Magal had mentioned the names of 13 of over 282 contributors to a Hebrew book published in 2024, with a picture of Netanyahu on its cover, titled “Mr. Depriver – the heritage of he who abandoned the hostages.”

Yinon said of the 13: “All the names I have mentioned shall be remembered eternally in disgrace, on a pillory. These are the most despicable persons living in the State of Israel, who falsely accused Benjamin Netanyahu of a blood libel.”

Eleven of the names mentioned were of returned hostages, or of relatives of hostages who had perished in Gaza. They included Shamriz.

Magal finally apologized for mentioning the hostages, but the damage was done.

What are the chances of the two ceremonies being united next year? Well, that depends on who wins the election in two weeks.

The writer has written journalistic and academic articles, as well as several books, on international relations, Zionism, Israeli politics, and parliamentarism. From 1994 to 2010, she worked at the Knesset Library and the Knesset Research and Information Center.