Oct. 7 families urge voters to remember victims; bereaved father called ‘traitor’ at polling station

Family members of those killed or taken hostage during the Hamas-led 2023 invasion of southern Israel urged people on Tuesday to go out and vote, in memory of those who can no longer exercise that right.

At 6:29 a.m., the exact hour when Hamas terrorists began the October 7, 2023, attack, victims’ family members gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square for a moment of silence, followed by statements asking Israelis to replace the government they hold responsible for failing to prevent the assault.

Sigal and Yoram Yehudai, parents of Ron Yehudai, who was killed at the Nova desert rave, said their son was “abandoned” by the state.

“On October 7, that cursed day, the State of Israel abandoned our beloved son Ron,” said Sigal Yehudai. “It abandoned him and all the citizens of Israel when it allowed thousands of terrorists to launch a murderous attack on the State of Israel. And it abandoned our Ron again and again, until 11:47 a.m.,” when he was killed.

Yehudai thanked the tens of thousands of Israelis who left their families and jobs all over the world to vote in the election.

She asked the citizens of Israel to vote for parties that have committed to establishing a state commission of inquiry into October 7 that “will give us answers and bring peace to our weary souls.”

Her words were echoed by other parents, including Eyal Eshel, father of Roni Eshel, a surveillance soldier killed at the Nahal Oz army base; Einav Zangauker, whose son, Matan Zangauker, was abducted and released in October 2025; and Ruby and Hagit Chen, parents of Itay Chen, a soldier killed on October 7.

“My brother loved this nation and its people,” said Ofri Tzur, whose brother, Amir Tzur, was a paramedic killed in battle in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. “Through his courage, Amiri teaches me what responsibility means. On the other hand, there are those who try to evade responsibility and obscure the truth. To convince us that everything has returned to normal. That we can elect the same government again. As though nothing happened.”

She asked Israelis to go out and vote, in memory of the fallen, for the future, for the children’s future, for the sake of hope.

At the end of their statements, the speakers signed their names on a giant ballot box that was white rather than blue, mimicking traditional Israeli death notices.

Later, bereaved father Ruby Chen was verbally accosted outside a polling station in Netanya while holding a photograph of his fallen son.

Video of the encounter showed Chen standing alongside another man wearing a sticker promoting Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad party as a voter confronted Chen, repeatedly calling him a “traitor” and making obscene gestures toward him.

Government supporters have in the past criticized victims’ families over their censure of the political leadership.

Chen’s son, Itay, a 19-year-old Israeli-American soldier, was killed on October 7 while battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel, and his body was taken captive to Gaza before being returned by Hamas on November 4, 2025.

At Itay’s funeral in November 2025, Ruby vowed to see the circumstances of Oct. 7 properly probed.

The government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long opposed the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the catastrophe.

The topic has become a central issue of the elections, with a poll this month finding that a clear majority of Israelis want a state commission.