Transportation Minister Miri Regev held a press briefing on Thursday and addressed public criticism over the government's decision to place under her responsibility the one-year commemoration ceremony of the October 7 massacre.
On the Hebrew date of the massacre, which falls this year in late October, the government will hold state ceremonies in the format it uses for other memorial days, which will include a defense ministry ceremony for fallen soldiers, and a ceremony for fallen civilians organized by the branch in the prime minister's office responsible for state ceremonies and events.
The ceremony in question at Regev's briefing was a separate, special ceremony that will be held only in 2024 to commemorate one year since October 7. The event will be filmed in advance and broadcast on October 7, and will not include a live ceremony.
Regev explained that this was in order to enable Israelis who wish to hold alternative ceremonies to do so, without them clashing with a live national ceremony. Later on in the briefing, Regev gave a second reason, saying that there were so many different groups that wanted to participate that there would not be enough room for everyone if a live event was held.
Critics have argued that the reason Regev decided not to have a live audience was actually out of concern that protestors or family members of hostages would disrupt it.
Regev, along with the head of the PMO state ceremonies and events branch, Mrs. Galit Wahaba Shasho, and the chosen director Ran Tzahor, said that the ceremony would include three themes – commemoration, heroism, and hope. Tzahor, who spoke before Regev, said that he did not intend to serve as a "mouthpiece" for the government and would make independent directorial decisions.
Regev, during the briefing, criticized people who had slammed her for agreeing to take responsibility for the ceremony, saying that while she "understood the pain and the anger," there was a limit to the "incitement and divisiveness." Regev called these attacks "background noise" and said she was acting on behalf of "most" Israelis by holding a national commemorative event.
Regev argued that similar criticism was issued over her decision on Independence Day to hold a televised production without a live audience, but said that that ceremony was eventually received well, and the October 7 ceremony will as well.
Regev revealed in response to a reporter's question that she had offered the president and prime minister to speak. The leader of the opposition was not given a similar offer, and Regev said the reason was that this was against protocol.
The government approved Regev as responsible for the ceremony on Sunday, and since then members of the opposition, families of hostages, and others argued that the government, under whose watch the massacre occurred, should not be the sole organizer of the event, and that families of victims and civil organizations should be involved as well. Several Gaza border kibbutzim, as well as the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, announced they will not participate in the event and will instead host an alternative ceremony.
However, according to a KAN News report on Wednesday, representatives of the cities Sderot and Ofakim said that they will participate in the government ceremony.
According to the alternative ceremony's organizers, its content will be shaped by representatives of families directly impacted by October 7 and will include public participation.
Families hosting separate ceremony respond to Regev
"The 'background noise' Minister Regev spoke of is us, bereaved families, residents of the surrounding area and the north, [and] the reservists who paid and are paying a heavy price for the events of October 7," the organizers of the alternative ceremony said in a statement.
The families criticized the government's decision to produce and televise the ceremony, saying, "In her words, Minister Regev illustrated the complete disconnection in the government's decision to produce an engineered and disconnected ceremony using millions of shekels, filmed and edited in advance, for herself."
"The government must announce that the budget allocated for the government event will be fully transferred to the 'people's ceremony' - the national memorial ceremony organized by the bereaved families and representatives of the communities that were abandoned on the seventh of October," the families stated.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum later said in a statement, "The decision to hold the ceremony without an audience, after the Hostages and Missing Families Forum's announcement that it will not participate with the minister's ceremony, stems from the government and the minister's fear to look into the eyes of the families of the hostages, the murder victims, and the evacuees, and take real responsibility for the desertion that began on October 7 and has lasted for 321 days."
"The government and minister Regev are again choosing to ignore the 'noises': the same noises that led to the destruction of October 7, the noises of desertion, and the noises of the bombardments that killed hostages who were kidnapped alive," the Forum added.
"The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is also ignoring the noises and continues to act to save the hostages. No ceremony will save the hostages – only a deal will. There will not be a return to normalcy and to productions by minister Regev as long as there are hostages in Gaza," the Forum concluded.
On the other hand, Shimon Ben Kimon, a resident of Ofakim, said, "I respect the decision of the kibbutzim and their feelings; at the same time, I think the decision of Ofakim and Sderot is correct. We are one nation, and we must not boycott such state ceremonies. I understand the anger of our brothers from the kibbutzim who suffered a terrible massacre on October 7, but we must be united."
A resident of Sderot named Shimon said that he believed that it shouldn't be the government organizing a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the massacre, but rather the families of the hostages and the bereaved families.
However, he said, it should not be boycotted.
"This government has failed. It was a blunder, but there are bereaved families for whom these ceremonies are important, and they should not be boycotted. This is a state ceremony, and the ones who should manage it are the residents of the Gaza border area together with the bereaved families of the fallen soldiers," Shimon stated.