Israeli President Herzog offers to host Oct 7 memorial ceremony amid opposition to government planned event

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog has offered to host the upcoming Oct. 7 state memorial ceremony in response to growing opposition against a ceremony planned by the Netanyahu-led government.

Since assuming office in 2021, Herzog has made an effort to be a unifying force in Israel’s politically fractured society.

In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, Herzog proposed to host the event “in the interest of dampening the flames of controversy and preventing unnecessary quarrels and disputes between different parts of society.”

Herzog argued that a ceremony hosted by the presidency would be “respectful, unifying, stately and modest, and of course without political trappings."

“The ceremony will include state symbols, as is customary, including lowering the flag to half-mast and saying Kaddish,” he added, referring to the traditional Jewish prayer of mourning.

The president emphasized the need for “every community, group, settlement, kibbutz, town and city to commemorate the anniversary as they wish,” after several communities refused to attend the event announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

“I would ask that this proposal be examined by you with the seriousness it deserves,” Herzog urged in his 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 not, god forbid, days of division,” the president concluded.

Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev was appointed to be in charge of the national Oct. 7 memorial event. However, Israeli border communities that were the most devastated by the Hamas invasion and terror attack rejected the invitation, accusing the government of failing to prevent the unprecedented breach of the border.

Many Israelis are outraged that Netanyahu has so far refused to take responsibility for the government's failures leading up to and on the morning of Oct. 7. In a letter addressed to the prime minister, dozens of families affected by the Hamas atrocities, demanded that Netanyahu cancel the memorial 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 letter stated.

Regev, who is a controversial figure in Israeli politics, stated: "I understand the feelings of those who are angry with us, the government, the army and the security forces. There was a big oversight and I also have difficult questions. We must set up an investigative committee."

In another statement, Regev said she refuses to abandon the plans, saying: "I ignore the noises – I will continue to organize the ceremony."

Popular Israeli singer and Fauda series actor Idan Amedi criticized Regev’s remark.

“It isn’t noise, it’s our brothers and sisters,” Amedi wrote on Instagram. “Everyone who came to the south on October 7 secretly wondered if they would be able to return to their families and loved ones.”

“In Sderot and in Kfar Aza, in Ofakim and in Be’eri, we’re the same people, the same fragments, the same longing,” he argued.

In January, Amedi was seriously wounded while serving as a combat soldier in Gaza against Hamas terrorists. He is currently recovering after months of hospital treatment. Like Herzog, Amedi has called for unity among Israelis in a time of unprecedented political tensions within Israeli society.