Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed in the government meeting on Monday to change the name of Operation Swords of Iron to the “Revival War,” according to Israeli media.
Yair Lapid, head of Yesh Atid and the opposition, took to X/Twitter, calling it a weak tactic, “You can change as many names as you want, [but] you will not change the fact that on your watch the most terrible disaster happened to the people of Israel since the establishment of the state.”
לא תהיה תקומה עד שלא כל החטופים והעקורים ישובו לביתם. אתם יכולים לשנות כמה שמות שאתם רוצים, לא תשנו את העובדה שבמשמרת שלכם קרה לעם ישראל האסון הנורא ביותר מאז קום המדינה. הממשלה הזו היא לא ממשלת התקומה, היא ממשלת האשמה. pic.twitter.com/6jRwBIqYv0
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) October 7, 2024
Labor MK Gilad Kariv also responded, saying, “Israeli society does not need a change in the name of war, but a [change in] leadership that has a good reputation for integrity, statesmanship, responsibility, and sensitivity.
“The fact that on this charged and difficult day that we all experience – a day on which the martyrs of the IDF and acts of terrorism are laid to rest, and on which another family of a hostage receives the good news – the prime minister is dealing with this issue, indicates the strength of the current government’s detachment,” Kariv said.
Why "Revival"?
The proposed name of the war in Hebrew is Tkuma, which, until 2021, was the original name for Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party and the electoral bloc when it was founded in 1998.
Tekuma is also a religious moshav near the Gaza Strip; originally founded in 1946, it was reestablished in 1949 following the War of Independence.
Following the October 7 massacre, many of the cars destroyed in the attack were moved to a road just west of the moshav, where they were stacked to wait for later analysis of remains and belongings.
The remains have become known as “The Car Wall,” with Israeli media reporting that over 850 cars remain there as a “silent testimony” to the Nova music festival massacre.