The state ceremony marking one year since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 infiltration and assault in Israel aired on television on Monday night, with pre-recorded speeches by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials.
The ceremony in the southern city of Ofakim, where Hamas terrorists murdered more than 30 Israelis during the massacre, was pre-recorded without a live audience due to security risks amid the ongoing conflicts on the state’s borders.
The event was led by Channel 13 reporter Hen Zender, whose younger sister Noa, 22, was murdered at the Supernova music festival, as well as Orin Zach-Gantz, whose daughter Eden Zacharia, 28, was abducted from the festival and murdered while in Hamas captivity, and Shimon Atias, whose niece Amit Buskila, 27, was murdered at the event.
Ruti Greenglick, mother of Israel Defense Forces Capt. (res.) Shaul Greenglick, who fell fighting Hamas in Gaza, and Yodan Piret, a member of Kibbutz Kissufim who together with his family survived the massacre, rounded out the group.
The moderators “represent the sacred remembrance of those who were massacred, killed and who suffered heavy losses, alongside the displays of mutual responsibility, heroism and hope,” Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev, who organized Monday’s ceremony, said last month.
Netanyahu said in his remarks at the ceremony on Monday night that “Shabbat Simchat Torah [Oct. 7, 2023], will go down in our nation’s history as a day of pain and loss, and of indescribable sorrow.
“The memory of our civilians, the victims of the terrorist attack, as well as the memory of our fallen heroes from the ranks of the IDF and the security forces, will remain with us forever,” continued the premier.
“The 7th of October will symbolize for generations the price of our revival,” Netanyahu concluded, adding: “Together, we will continue to fight, and together, with God’s help, we will win.”
The 65-minute program also featured a speech by Israeli President Isaac Herzog and musical performances. Singers Amir Dadon and Shuli Rand sang the prayer “Ana BeKoach” together with the audience.
“A year since a murderous enemy entered our homes, burned and tortured, raped and wounded, slaughtered and kidnapped; all with monstrous and cruel glee,” Herzog said in his remarks.
“Until my last day, I will be haunted by the smell of burnt bodies and the sight of pools of blood, alongside family photos and children’s books—in the paradise that turned into hell,” stated the president.
“It has been a year since, in an abhorrent crime against humanity, our brothers and sisters have been held captive by murderers. Our hearts are bound to them with chains of love and worry. We know we will not be whole until they return to us,” the Israeli head of state added.
Monday night’s state ceremony included 101 empty chairs, representing the hostages that are being held in the Gaza Strip, including 97 who were taken during the Oct. 7 terrorist invasion.
On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Gazan terrorists invaded 22 Israeli towns and cities in the northwestern Negev and massacred some 1,200 people, mostly Jewish civilians, while taking 251 captive. In response, Israel launched a war on the terrorist group.
The next day, Iran’s terrorist army in Lebanon—Hezbollah—began targeting northern Israel with rockets, missiles and drones. About 60,000 residents of northern Israel have been unable to return to their homes.
Also on Monday evening, some bereaved families and families of hostages kidnapped by Hamas into the Gaza Strip took part in an unofficial alternative ceremony in north Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.
The unofficial ceremony, which began with a minute of silence at 7:10 p.m., was broadcast live on many television networks in the Jewish state, as well as on dozens of news channels around the world.
Despite all 40,000 tickets being snatched up overnight on Sept. 18, the event was closed to the public amid security concerns and IDF Home Front Command rules limiting gatherings due to the risk of an enemy missile attack.
Dozens of cities in Israel and around the world held community screenings of the alternative event, organizers said.
“I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart to everyone who harnessed, pushed, donated, got excited and expected to hug the families that will be with us in the park. Good days will come, in which we will all stand together, without restrictions and without partitions,” said Yonatan Shamriz, the brother of Alon Shamriz, who was taken hostage by Hamas and mistakenly killed by IDF soldiers in December.
The alternative memorial was hosted by Israeli TV hosts Hanoch Daum and Rotem Sela, with musical performances of artists Aviv Gefen, Agam Buhbut, Eden Hason, Ran Danker, Shlomo Artzi and others.
‘It doesn’t get better with time’
Roy Abergel, whose niece Rotem Levi, 22, from Yokne’am, was murdered at the Supernova festival on Oct. 7, told JNS earlier on Monday at the festival site near Kibbutz Re’im that he came from Los Angeles to mark one year since her death.
“It was important for me to come to the place she was murdered at. It’s my first time here,” he said.
“It’s terrible. Beyond the personal grief and pain I feel for Rotem, I look around at all these beautiful children, and I hear songs and the national anthem when, in the background, we hear explosions of tanks. It’s surreal,” Abergel added.
In the Re’im forest, in the exact location where Palestinian terrorists attacked an ambulance and killed many inside including Karin Journo, a dual Israeli-French citizen, JNS met Journo’s family.
“It’s 8:42,” said Karin’s mother, Inbal. “At this exact time, we had our last conversation with her,” she added.
Karin’s father, Doron, acknowledged that being at the Supernova site was extremely difficult, in ways that were similar to how they felt the day they were told she was murdered.
“Nothing has changed. It doesn’t get better with time. It gets worse,” he said.
“After 11 days, the IDF told us she had been murdered. From Karin, there were only three teeth left. I was so proud to have such a strong army, but on that day, they left us. We will continue to do everything to perpetuate Karin’s memory,” Doron said.
Vered Cohen and Yifat Benchetrit—whose nieces, Roya and Norelle Manzuri, and Norelle’s boyfriend, Amit Cohen, were murdered by Hamas—also visited the Re’im forest on Monday morning.
“We did not hesitate for a second to come here today, for our loves Roya, Norelle and Amit, everywhere that we are needed, we are there to accompany the parents,” Vered told JNS.
“We were a big family, united and truly happy. From that moment onwards, we only know sadness. Our lives changed, and we don’t know if it will ever resemble what it used to be.
“It’s my first time here, and it’s very hard. I keep trying to imagine what they did—in which direction they ran—and ask myself why didn’t they go here or there. I can’t stop thinking, and I can’t begin to imagine what they went through here. It’s very hard,” Vered said.