Government sets second national day of mourning for October 7
Flags to be lowered, entertainment venues to be closed, with two additional memorial ceremonies planned under auspices of Transportation Minister Regev
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The cabinet on Sunday approved a second national day of mourning for the October 7 massacre in accordance with the Hebrew calendar, which will be marked with two state ceremonies organized by Transportation Minister Miri Regev.
Israel marked the first anniversary of the massacre on October 7 with a prerecorded official state ceremony organized by Regev, at which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog spoke.
The two additional ceremonies, in memory of the fallen soldiers and civilians, will be held on Mount Herzl on Sunday, the 25th of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (October 26-27), three days after the annual Simhat Torah holiday, which is when the Hamas attack took place last year.
According to Hebrew media reports, Netanyahu, Herzog and other senior dignitaries will participate in the ceremony, only weeks after the nation marked the first anniversary of the attack.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid is not listed as a participant, despite the law permitting him to take part in state ceremonies attended by the prime minister. Lapid boycotted the state ceremony on October 7, stating that “this government is not legitimate and is not worthy of [the victims’] memory.”
The additional official day of mourning will also be marked by special programs at schools and in the military, the lowering of flags to half staff and the closure of entertainment venues.
During a cabinet meeting last Monday, Regev reportedly called for holding a memorial on the Hebrew date of the massacre as well, prompting ministers to accuse her of seeking to establish a day of mourning on a holiday.
“The flags were not lowered. What [Knesset Speaker Amir] Ohana did at the Knesset was on his own accord,” Regev replied, prompting Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar to point out that two ceremonies had already been held — a reference to an alternative memorial event held in Tel Aviv.
“There were not two ceremonies,” Regev shot back.
Netanyahu was not present for most of the meeting, leaving after a few minutes along with his military secretary, the Maariv daily reported.
The families of hostages and other October 7 victims had strongly objected to Regev being chosen to oversee this past week’s official state ceremony marking the first anniversary of the Hamas-led onslaught, with several Gaza border communities accusing the government of using the official ceremony as afig leaf to avoid responsibility for its role in failing to prevent the terror massacre, and for not doing enough for the communities in its aftermath.
הבוקר, בשעה 06:29 בדיוק,
בדומיה,
הורדו הדגלים ברחבת הכנסת לחצי התורן.יִזְכֹּר עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת בָּנָיו וּבְנוֹתָיו, הַנֶּאֱמָנִים וְהָאַמִּיצִים,
חַיָּלֵי צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל,
וְכָל לוֹחֲמֵי הַמַּחְתָּרוֹת וַחֲטִיבוֹת הַלּוֹחֲמִים בְּמַעַרְכוֹת הָעָם,
וְאַנְשֵׁי… pic.twitter.com/UpaAmzZf7L— Amir Ohana – אמיר אוחנה (@AmirOhana) October 7, 2024
Regev refused a number of compromise proposals to solve the dispute, dismissing the criticism as “noise” and comparing memorial ceremonies other than the official one to a contentious joint Israeli-Palestinian commemoration event held annually on Memorial Day, which is seen by right-wing critics as equating terror victims with slain Palestinian attackers and equating Israeli and Palestinian pain.
In the end, two separate ceremonies were held. In Tel Aviv, the families organized a National Memorial Ceremony for Bereaved Families, at which relatives of the victims were highly critical of the government, calling for its leaders to accept responsibility for the “abandonment” of Israel’s south on the dark day of the Hamas-led atrocities.
The tone of the prerecorded official state ceremony, which started almost immediately after end of the civilian event, differed sharply.
While the prerecorded event featured survivors and bereaved parents discussing the pain of their losses, it also focused on reasons for optimism — with Netanyahu touting the nation’s post-October 7 accomplishments.
While October 7 was a day of indescribable sorrow for the country, “we were not defeated,” the prime minister declared.
“We have mobilized enormous spiritual power. We have defined the goals of the war and we are achieving them: toppling the rule of Hamas; bringing all our hostages home, both alive and dead, is a sacred mission that we will not let go of until we achieve it; thwarting any future threat from Gaza to Israel; and returning the residents of the south and the north safely to their homes.”
In an apparent repudiation of hostage families’ longstanding calls for a hostage-for-ceasefire deal, Netanyahu claimed that in every meeting he and his wife have held with soldiers, the wounded and the bereaved, they have heard “the same message again and again: The campaign must not be stopped prematurely.”
Following Sunday’s government decision, several relatives of Israelis held hostage in Gaza heaped scorn on the idea of a second national day of mourning.
“All the ceremonies and days of mourning are completely unnecessary, these are distractions,” Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod Cohen was taken hostage on October 7, told the Ynet news site.
As long as the war continues and the hostages remain in captivity, no ceremonies or memorial days should be established, Yifat Calderon, whose cousin Ofer Calderon is being held in Gaza, told the site. “Enough of this nonsense.”
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