At Oct. 7 memorial ceremonies across Israel, searing grief and political tensions are on full display
Friends and family of the victims of the Nova music festival massacre gather at the site of the massacre in southern Israel one year after the attack, Oct. 7, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
(JTA) — RE’IM, Israel – At the site of the Nova festival near the Gaza border, the families of some 360 people murdered there gathered in the early morning light to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre.
Part of the last track played that day — a song, ironically, lasting 6:29, reflecting the exact minute Hamas began its attack — echoed through the air, the pulsating psychedelic trance beats incongruous with the pall that hung over the gathering.
A minute of silence was observed in honor of the victims, but unlike on Israel’s other memorial days, it wasn’t signaled by a siren. The Home Front Command barred sirens lest Israelis confuse them with those triggered by ongoing rocket fire from Hezbollah and Hamas — not to mention the psychological impact on those for whom tragedy began with rocket sirens exactly one year ago.
Still, the silence at Re’im was pierced by wails — that of a grieving woman, and then of a Code Red alert from someone’s phone. Later, the IDF confirmed four projectiles were fired from Gaza, three of which were intercepted with the fourth landing in an open area.
President Isaac Herzog attended the memorial before moving on to others in the area, kicking off a three-day vigil in the Gaza border communities ravaged by Hamas’ onslaught. “We will remember this day forever, and we will always remember who kidnapped, who raped and who slaughtered,” he said.
The memorial was one of several major and countless smaller ceremonies taking place across Israel as the country grapples with the grim anniversary amid ongoing war and internal divisions about how to respond to them. About 1,200 people were killed that day, with thousands wounded and more than 250 taken hostage; hundreds of soldiers have died in the ensuing war in Gaza and, as of last week, in Lebanon.
An official state ceremony planned for the southern city of Ofakim, where more than 50 were killed, was prerecorded without an audience. The government cited security risks, but many saw the arrangement as an attempt to avoid direct interaction between government officials and the families of victims, many of whom are incensed at the government’s handling of the ongoing hostage crisis and have protested widely against it.
Before it was set to be prerecorded, the family members and their allies said they would shun the official ceremony after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu selected Miri Regev, a minister from his party, to lead it. Regev was criticized for leading an official Independence Day ceremony in May that praised Netanyahu, and she lashed out after Herzog offered himself as a host for the Oct. 7 ceremony who could unify Israelis.
An alternative ceremony organized will take place at the same time in Tel Aviv’s HaYarkon Park. The ceremony initially saw 50,000 tickets reserved within hours of their release, but because of wartime rules about large gatherings, attendance has been limited to press and victims’ families. The event will be broadcast live, with community screenings expected at various locations across Israel.
Other ceremonies were planned for many of the Gaza periphery communities, including one at the site of the former police station in Sderot, which was destroyed in the attack.
And in Jerusalem, the families of hostages still in Gaza gathered outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence and observed a two-minute silence. Yuli Ben-Ami, daughter of the hostage Ohad Ben-Ami, addressed her father directly.
“It’s been a year without knowing anything about you, a year without a sign of life. Dad, I love you and we’re fighting for you 24/7,” she said, according to a readout by the Hostages Families Forum.
During the gatherings, news came in from Petah Tikva, which announced that 28-year-old Israeli hostage Idan Shtivi was killed on Oct. 7 at the Nova music festival in Re’im, and his body is still being held in Gaza. Shtivi had been among the dwindling number of hostages presumed alive.
In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, the siren was replaced by a chorus of shofars in the early morning as people stood in silence before gathering for prayers. Several hundred people gathered in the square the previous night for a panel moderated by Rabbi Benny Lau with former hostages and the families of hostages. The event, organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and Salon Otef — modeled after the Zikaron BeSalon initiative from Holocaust Memorial Day — included a performance by veteran musician Ehud Banai.
Sapir Cohen, who was released in November’s hostage deal and whose partner, Sasha Trufanov, is still being held captive in Gaza, recalled being snatched away on a motorcycle by Hamas terrorists. “We drove a long way into Gaza, while lots of people came up to me to beat and touch me.”
At one point during her captivity, her captors showed her Hostages Square on the TV.
“Thousands and thousands of people were there, with the message to bring them home,” she recalled. “You never know which hostage is watching this. Maybe it’s someone who decided they don’t want to live anymore.”
Ziv Abud, who was at the Nova festival with her boyfriend, Eliya Cohen, recounted being in a roadside bomb shelter together with 29 others including Aner Shapiro, to whom she referred as “the hero of my story” who saved her life by hurling back live grenades thrown by terrorists.
“I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t hurt,” she said. “But then I felt like my body was going to sleep and I thought this is what death feels like.”
In the middle of her speech, a siren-like wail cut through the air, startling the audience. Many quickly pulled out their phones to check for a Code Red alert. On stage, Abud, shaken by the sound, burst into tears. The source of the sound wasn’t immediately clear — some speculated it was an alarm from a nearby building, while others believed it was the cry of a disturbed man.
She concluded her speech by recounting the moment she realized Eliya was no longer with her in the shelter while she was buried under a “pit of bodies.” Days later, she saw images of him alive in Gaza on Hamas’ Telegram channel.
“Since that moment, I’ve been at war 24/7, fighting to bring him back,” she said.
Ofir Peretz, a reservist paramedic, shared an update from the northern part of the Nuseirat corridor in Gaza. A semi-formal Oct. 7 ceremony was planned for later on, battlefield conditions permitting, but during a company meeting the previous evening, he spoke about his experiences with his partner, Amit Mann, who was killed a year ago during the attack on Beeri. For Peretz, fighting now in the Zaytoun and Sajaiya neighborhoods — the Hamas strongholds where the terrorists who attacked Beeri likely came from — is a reckoning.
“It feels like an important way to close the circle,” he said.
The decision to hold an official memorial ceremony on Oct. 7 is a one-time occurrence. Future state-led memorials and commemorations will take place on the 24th of Tishrei, a date on the Jewish calendar that falls two days after Simchat Torah, when the attack took place. The move to turn 24 Tishrei into a national remembrance day was made because Simchat Torah, the day of the attack, is traditionally a joyful holiday.
The decision to select that date has sparked controversy among many victims’ families, who say that only two dates, Oct. 7 and Simchat Torah, are synonymous with their losses.
“Don’t try and force another date on us,” Yoram Yehudai, the father of the late Ron Yehudai who was murdered at the Nova festival, said at Monday’s memorial in Re’im. “We won’t accept it.”
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