Deputy minister blames the left for Oct. 7, claims leftists ‘stayed home’ that day

Deputy Minister Almog Cohen blames the left for October 7, arguing that some reservists’ threats that year to refuse to show up for reserve duty — due to the government’s judicial overhaul efforts — led to the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

Responding to the day’s many protests throughout the country to mark 1,000 days since Oct. 7, including by many bereaved families that lost loved ones that day, Cohen dismisses the protesters as “the far left.”

“We don’t need you to remember” what happened on October 7, the far-right politician declares in a video posted to his X account. “We remember every day the refusal that you brought upon us in this disaster. How on that same morning, you stayed in your homes. You didn’t even go out to help anyone.”

Cohen’s claim is a falsehood. Israelis from all political backgrounds and all walks of life rushed to help the south that day.

“How days before that, you said ‘You have no army and you have no air force.’ How, in your ultimate audacity, you took the future of our children, their security, and compromised it for some political payoff,” he charges.

השמאל הקיצוני מציין היום 1,000 ימים לטבח הנורא שנגרם בעקבות אסון הסרבנות.
אנחנו לא צריכים תזכורת או יום מיוחד, כולנו זוכרים יום-יום, שעה-שעה את האסון שהבאתם עלינו! pic.twitter.com/0nokjHIY6U

— אלמוג כהן Almog cohen (@almog_cohen08) July 2, 2026

“We will not forget and we will not forgive Shikma Bressler, Brothers in Arms, Yair Golan and Gadi Eisenkot,” he says — referring to a prominent anti-government activist, a leading protest group, the head of the left-wing Democrats party, and the chief of the Yashar party. “They literally sacrificed our children to Hamas. The People of Israel live, do not forget, and do not forgive.”

Golan, a retired IDF general, was celebrated for rushing south to rescue people with his car on October 7. Eisenkot lost a son who fought in the ensuing war.