From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Opposition figures attend Oct. 7 memorial ceremony while ministers all stay away
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Opposition leaders are in attendance at the national October 7 memorial ceremony held in Tel Aviv, though no members of the government can be found.
Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot, B’Yachad leaders Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Democrats leader Yair Golan, and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz are all in attendance together.
“I am here tonight in Yarkon Park, together with tens of thousands of Israelis,” says Golan in a post on X. “The people have shown up. The government has not. And this is no accident.”
“There is no government at this ceremony. There hasn’t been a government for a long time in the place where Israel’s citizens are: with the bereaved families, with the wounded communities, with those who served, who fought, rescued, and were injured, and with those who volunteered and held the country together in its hardest moments,” he continues.
The government held a separate state ceremony on Monday — the Hebrew calendar date of the October 7 attacks.
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