Tel Aviv to host massive alternative Oct. 7 memorial ceremony, state event planned in Ofakim

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A large alternative Oct. 7 memorial ceremony is expected to be held in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park amid growing opposition to a government-led ceremony. The event, hosted by Israeli television presenter Rotem Sela and local writer Hanoch Daum, is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors.

“On October 7, I will stand with the bereaved families, the families of hostages, and the communities that are in pain, for an evening of remembrance and hope,” said Sela. The event will feature speeches from former hostages and bereaved families, along with performances by “the best Israeli artists.”

Israeli singers Aviv Gefen and Idan Amedi have already backed the Tel Aviv ceremony on social media.

Amedi, who is also known for his acting in the popular Fauda series, was seriously injured in January while serving as an IDF combat soldier in Gaza. He is currently recovering after several months of hospital treatment.

Many residents in southern Israel Gaza border communities that were devasted by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 blame the Netanyahu government for failing to prevent the invasion and attack that led to the deaths of 1,200 men, women and children, and the abduction of 251 hostages into Gaza. These residents, along with those whose family members are still in Hamas captivity in Gaza, refuse to attend an event sponsored by the government.

Dozens of families of Oct. 7 victims recently urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel any government event.

“We won’t allow those who caused the most brutal massacre in the nation’s history to put on a propaganda event at the expense of the lives of our loved ones,” the families stated in a joint letter.

Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who is in charge of the state memorial event, responded: "I ignore the noises – I will continue to organize the ceremony."

Amedi criticized Regev, as did Daum, who condemned her for being insensitive to the families.

“After hearing Miri Regev’s insulting and painful remarks, I took it upon myself to emcee the bereaved and hostages’ families’ remembrance ceremony. I spoke with the ceremony’s organizers, and I promise that it will be a stately, all-Israeli, uniting ceremony that will make room for pain and Israeli remembrance. Just as our heroes fought together that awful Saturday, so we will stand together, from the left and the right, religious people and secular people, in a united embrace in their memory,” Daum pledged.

However, Regev continues to insist on organizing a state event in the southern Israeli city of Ofakim, where about 50 Israelis were murdered on Oct. 7.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog recently offered to host a different Oct. 7 memorial ceremony “in the interest of dampening the flames of controversy and preventing unnecessary quarrels and disputes between different parts of society.”

“I would ask that this proposal be examined by you with the seriousness it deserves,” Herzog wrote in a letter to Netanyahu.

“Israelis are looking toward their representatives and expect that the coming days of remembrance will be a source of comfort, healing, unity, growth, faith, rebuilding and hope; and no, god forbid, days of division,” the president emphasized.

It is not only southern Israeli communities that have grievances with the current Israeli government.

Northern Israeli residents are increasingly frustrated with the government’s inadequate response to the ongoing Hezbollah attacks, which have forced more than 60,000 people to leave their communities. Over 14,000 displaced children from the north have been placed in kindergartens, schools and informal educational arrangements throughout Israel, uncertain of when they can return to their homes.