Fighting about Remembering

On the controversy over how to commemorate the first anniversary of October 7

Israel’s memorial days are held on or close to the Hebrew date of the event concerned. Independence Day is marked on the 5 Iyar (unless it coincides with Shabbat), when Ben-Gurion declared independence, and Yom HaShoah is marked on 27 Nisan (unless it coincides with Shabbat), which is between Pesach and Independence Day and close to the date that the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began. The 28 Iyar, meanwhile, is the Memorial Day for Ethiopian Jews who perished on their way to Israel, chosen to correspond with Jerusalem Day (the day East Jerusalem and the Old City were conquered during the Six-Day War) reflecting the Ethiopian-Jewish longing for Zion.

Each of these days were selected after the event they commemorate and according to the Hebrew date, even though most of Israeli life runs according to the Gregorian calendar (other than Shabbat and Jewish festivals). Two important exceptions to this rule are November 29 – which marks the date in 1947 that the UN voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states – and November 4, the day in 1995 when Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir. To this day, his life is usually commemorated close to the Gregorian date and not the official Hebrew date of his memorial.

This year, though, we face a new scenario in which – for one year only - the events of October 7 will be commemorated on October 7 (October 7 was 23 Tishrei – Simchat Torah, and from next year October 7 will be commemorated on 24 Tishrei, so as not to clash with the festival). Furthermore, these events are being planned while the war which began that day is still ongoing, and the smart money is that this will still be the case once the first anniversary rolls around in under two months.

The first-anniversary memorial event is already shrouded in controversy. Responsibility for the commemorations has been given to Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who, for petty political reasons, has also overseen Israel’s Independence Day ceremony over the last couple of years, even though the event is usually run by the Culture and Sport Ministry. Since her stewardship of the October 7 event was announced, she has faced fierce opposition. “The resounding failure of the government to return the hostages does not allow it to keep trying to close the circle, all while the situation has not changed since October 7 and its consequences are still felt by the families of the displaced [residents] every day, whose communities and homes were destroyed,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced, while an alternative ceremony is being planned.

Predictably, Regev has not handled the criticism well. “There is also an option for others to hold alternative ceremonies,” she said at a press conference, “like some do with the Israeli-Palestinian ceremony on Memorial Day,” which she did not intend as a compliment. She then immediately denied making this comparison, despite the entire event being recorded. “The ceremony is all of our ceremony, as a society and a nation. It’s meant for everyone regardless of our disagreements, anger, and deep pain,” she said.

She contrasted the urgency of holding a memorial event with the seemingly permanent postponement of an official inquiry into the failings of the government and security forces on October 7: “I understand those who are angry with us, the country, the government, the army, and the security forces. Yes, there was a massive failure, and I also have difficult questions but there will be time for that…Just as we unite around the ceremonies for Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Holocaust Remembrance Day, we should also unite around October 7.”

Regev says that the ceremony will focus on remembrance, heroism, and hope, and will be held in the south, without an audience. Several kibbutzim, though, have announced a boycott of the event, while representatives of the cities Sderot and Ofakim have said they will participate in the ceremony. This reflects wider paradoxes surrounding October 7. Historically, there have been tensions between border kibbutzim and nearby cities, reflecting the Ashkenazi vs. Mizrahi divide, with the former coded as privileged and the latter coded as underprivileged. On October 7, though, the kibbutzim were hit – at least relatively speaking - harder than Sderot and Ofakim. This was partly a reflection of the kibbutz layout – they are essentially gated communities; an advantage for those seeking quiet from the wider world, but a massive disadvantage once the enemy gets through the gates, as it did on October 7. Fewer died in Sderot and Ofakim because the dispersed nature of the city streets made it easier for residents to hide and defend themselves.

In response to the dispute, President Isaac Herzog has offered to host the event at his Jerusalem residence, “in the interest of dampening the flames of controversy and preventing unnecessary quarrels and disputes between different parts of society.” At the time of writing, Regev has not accepted his olive branch. “State ceremonies aren’t held at the President’s Residence, this cannot be. This needs to be held in the south.” The Fauda star Idan Amedi, meanwhile, who was seriously injured fighting in Gaza and has become a universally popular figure, called for Regev to accept Herzog’s proposal. “A compromise on this issue won’t diminish you and isn’t a surrender on your part,” he wrote. “On the contrary, we need more compromises between us during this bloody period. Let’s give ourselves the chance, despite the disagreements, to find comfort together over our lost loved ones.”

Remembering is perhaps the definitive element of Jewish existence. We have famously (or infamously) long memories, enshrined in traditions like the Pesach seder, which to this day provides a blueprint for collective remembrance. It feels strange, though, to see the debate over how to remember being played out in real time, with predictable political divisions and animosities. Whatever form the memorial takes, though, October 7, 2023 will remain carved into our psyches like the slash between before/after.