The Great Divide: Commemorating Hamas’ October 7 Attacks in Israel
Two commemorations of Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel reveal deep divisions within the country about the government’s response.
One, which was held in public and organized by bereaved families, addressed Israel’s security failures, as well as the heroism on display that day.
The memorial in Tel Aviv was meant to have tens of thousands in attendance, although it was held in front of a much smaller crowd as gatherings are now limited in size for security reasons.
One of the final speakers was Yonathan Shamriz from kibbutz Kfar Aza, which was among the hardest-hit communities during Hamas’ attacks. His brother was taken hostage into Gaza and later killed by Israeli fire as he tried to escape.
“It was a day without an army, without a state — a day where all we had was ourselves, the citizens. This is what abandonment looks like,” the Times of Israel newspaper reported Shamriz as saying.
The other event, a recorded ceremony set up by the government, touched more on remembrance, bravery and hope.
The distinction underlines a fissure in public discourse over the darkest day in the country’s 76-year history and how it should be remembered.
“You can say it’s a war on the narrative,” Shamriz, also an organizer of the public ceremony, told the Reuters news agency.
“This memorial will tell the story of what we’ve been through on the seventh. That there was no army, but there were soldiers. There was no state, but there were citizens. And I think the government memorial will not mention the mistakes that happened.”
“The tape of the government, the other memorial, it does not quite reflect how we want to remember what happened on the seventh,” he said.
The private ceremony was organized by cabinet minister Miri Regev, a close supporter of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, in power for most of the past 15 years, has faced heavy criticism for not taking responsibility for security and intelligence failures that led to the October 7 attacks.
The state ceremony was filmed in the small city of Ofakim near the Gaza border, which lost more than 40 of its residents in the Hamas assault.
Ofakim was also a bastion for Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and his conservative allies in the last election. Smaller communities in the area usually vote more liberal.