Emotions ran high in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night as Israel marked two years since Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...’s devastating October 7, 2023, onslaught on southern Israel. Some 30,000 people filled Yarkon Park for what became the nation’s largest memorial ceremony for the deadliest day in Israeli history.
The event, organized by Kumu ("Rise Up") — a movement founded by survivors of that day and families of victims and hostages — stood in place of an official state ceremony.
The government has opted instead to recognize a national day of remembrance corresponding to the Hebrew anniversary of Hamas’s attack. Since it happened on the Jewish holiday of Simhat Torah, and the following day is a transition day known as Isru Chag, the annual remembrance day is marked two days after the actual Hebrew anniversary, on the 24th of the month of Tishrei, which falls this year on Thursday, October 16.
Last year, the government organized its own commemoration on October 7, which competed with the memorial organized by the survivors and families. Led by Likud minister and close Netanyahu ally Miri Regev, it drew sharp criticism from bereaved families who accused it of being politicized.
Tuesday’s memorial was mostly solemn, but did feature some comments attacking the government.
"October 7 is not only a day of remembrance for those we lost," Kumu founder Yonatan Shamriz, brother of hostage Alon Shamriz, who was mistakenly killed by the IDF after escaping his Gazook captors, told the crowd. "It is a day of remembrance for negligence, for failed leadership, and for the abandonment of responsibility. On that day, a new commitment was born: To lead the State of Israel to a better reality — a far better one."
Shamriz said that as he was hiding in a safe room on October 7, "I made myself a promise: We will rise."
"Our generation — which inherited a country bleeding, isolated, fractured, and in pain — will be the one to fix it," he said. "It will be the best version of Israel, one that sanctifies the lives of its residents, that is built on truth, accountability and mutual responsibility... We will bring back life. We will bring back hope. We have risen. The people of Israel have risen."