Herzog marks 1,000 days since October 7 with Kerem Shalom survivors, hails Israel’s resilience

By Nava Freiberg

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2 July 2026, 3:34 pm

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Nava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.

President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog host survivors and bereaved families from Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, July 2, 2026 (Haim Zach/GPO)

As Israel marks 1,000 days since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre, President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog host survivors and bereaved families from Kibbutz Kerem Shalom at the President’s Residence, according to a readout from Herzog’s office.

Herzog calls the day “a milestone that reminds us of Israel’s ability to emerge from crisis and unimaginable pain — to remember and never forget.”

“This is the story of Israeli resilience. The enemy made no distinction between us — not between one opinion and another, nor between those who wear a kippah and those who do not. It came to destroy all of us. Our answer, and our true victory, lies in rebuilding, in restoring our communities, and in returning to the kibbutzim,” he says.

Yigal Moskovitz, chairman of the Kerem Shalom community committee, adds: “Today, the kibbutz has the same number of members it had on October 7, and more families are expected to join us. That is Israel’s victory.”

Nearly 90 percent of pre-October 7 residents have returned, and six new families have arrived at Kerem Shalom — one of the communities that were worst affected by the massacre — as of last September.

David Habaz, a survivor of the attack and the kibbutz’s longest-serving farmer, tells Herzog at the event that “returning to the kibbutz is the most important thing we’ve done. But emotionally, even after one thousand days, I still haven’t truly returned. The fears are still there, including the fear of what is still happening beyond the fence,” referring to the border with Gaza, where Hamas remains armed and in control of most of the Strip’s population (though the IDF holds a broad security zone inside Gaza and along the border)

The 1,000th day since October 7 is being marked around the country with unofficial memorials as well as events protesting the government’s failure to prevent the Hamas attack and its handling of the war in Gaza and the efforts to return the hostages.