Tomorrow (Monday), on the seventh of October, two ceremonies will be held to commemorate the blackest day in the history of the State of Israel. The first, the ceremony of the families of the victims that will be held in Yarkon Park and was nicknamed the “alternative ceremony of the families of the victims of the Shiv’a in October”, those who, according to Miri Regev, are making “noises” that she “ignores”. Obviously he’s totally the real deal.
The second ceremony, the state memorial ceremony to mark the seventh day in October on behalf of the government responsible for the terrible failure in the history of the State of Israel. The ceremony will be produced, of course, by the undisputed producer of government events (because that’s the only thing she’s good at) the unpopular-especially-these-days Minister of Transportation, Miri Regev.
At exactly 06:29: the Broadcasting Corporation will hold a minute of silence
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Miri Regev in rehearsals for the torch lighting ceremony (photo: no credit)
Regev grabbed the headlines last holiday, after moving between different destinations around the world. In the last of them, Budapest, according to the reports, Regev enjoyed shopping in a luxury jewelry store, at a time when thousands of Israelis were still stuck abroad without flights back to Israel following the war. At the same time, thousands of soldiers and reservists were called to Order 8 – but the public transportation, by order of Regev , was shut down due to Shabbat and the holiday, which caused huge outrage among the public, along with accusations against the minister of harming the war effort.
I understand the importance of holding a state ceremony to mark the Seventh in October. After all, today the government responsible for the default is in power, but tomorrow it will be a different government, so it is important to hold a state ceremony.
But unfortunately there are still abductees in Gaza, the fighting is still in full swing and the government has not taken responsibility to this very day, and has not resigned as was expected of it. Given the height of the flames and the depth of sensitivity, this year they could forego a state ceremony and consider the request of the families of the massacre victims. This is the reason why they chose to hold a filmed ceremony without an audience, so that Shash and Shalom would not have to face the justified and proper criticism, which would be recorded in the photographed archives forever.
Protest for the kidnapping deal (Photo: Avshalom Sassooni)
Miri Regev, who arouses deep antagonism among sections of the public, who this year, as mentioned, starred in countless negative headlines, among them the traffic light system, the diamond affair and now the shutdown of the Israel Defense Forces and the Israelis who are stuck abroad – it was she of all who was chosen to produce the sensitive ceremony in such painful days. Undoubtedly a defiant and outrageous choice on behalf of the government, but I am no longer surprised by what is happening in our government (certainly not after Ben Gvir was elected to be the Minister of National Security and turned the police into his private militia).
Of course I will watch the family ceremony to mark the seventh day in October. I was also planning to come, until last night they reported that due to the tense security situation and the instructions of the Home Front Command limiting gatherings, the organizers of the civil memorial ceremony announced that the event in Yarkon Park will be held in the presence of a limited crowd, which will include families of abductees and bereaved families only.
I am sure that the Likud supporters will also watch the civil memorial ceremony, show solidarity and shed tears together with the affected families and their loved ones, excluding a minority of evil and inhumane people, who dare to humiliate the families of the abducted and conduct a negative campaign against them, just because they visited the Prime Minister and called for the release of their loved ones from the captivity of Hamas .
Now one question remains open, should I also watch the state ceremony? As much as I feel a sense of repulsion from the ceremony in question, and from everything and who it represents – I will watch it. If only out of curiosity, hoping that curiosity won’t kill me like it killed the cat.
I will watch the state ceremony with a vomit bag at the ready, just to see if Netanyahu and the government will take advantage of the ceremony to raise the status of the prime minister, and appropriate the impressive achievements of the army and the security forces in the last two months.
If the ceremony becomes a stage where Netanyahu can pick up some more voters at the ballot box, it will be a big scandal. I assume that Netanyahu is too smart and he will not make cynical and ugly exploitation of the status. At the same time, I am sure that I will take an anti-nausea pill as soon as Sarah Netanyahu’s name is mentioned at the ceremony. This scenario is not imaginary, and I’m even willing to bet on it. Miri Regev will not forget, as always, the Prime Minister’s wife, and if she does, Netanyahu will find a way to push her into the speech he will deliver to the nation, along the lines of “My wife and I are hurting from the bottom of our hearts, and along the way, we are renovating the pool in Caesarea at your expense.”
Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Yes, I’m curious. But it is also possible that at the moment of truth, reality and true feelings will hit me, and I will not be allowed to watch the state ceremony organized by the government that is responsible for the surprise attack of the Seven in October.
And as for the Sabbath in October, I noticed that every time I come to describe this date in words, I am confused about how to mark it. Is it like the Shevah massacre in October? Is it by default? The words dwarf what really took place in practice, the development that led to a multi-arena war and existential danger to the State of Israel. Maybe “Black Day”? Or “surprise attack”? It limits it to only one day, but a year has already passed and the abductees are still in the captivity of Hamas.
Maybe a holocaust? But in the midst of the holocaust they did not hold ceremonies for Ziona, only years after it ended. In the meantime, I’ll stick with the October seven couplet. It is strong and painful enough.
