Israel's government approved a "National Day of Mourning," to be held on the Hebrew calendar one-year commemoration date of the October 7 Hamas massacre, at its weekly meeting on Sunday morning in Jerusalem.
The day of mourning will include two national ceremonies. The first will be held by the defense ministry in honor of the fallen soldiers from Oct. 7 and the ensuing war.
The second will be held by the State Ceremonies and Events Department, which is part of the prime minister's office, in honor of the civilian casualties and casualties from rescue and aid services on Oct. 7.
Simchat Torah
The massacre occurred on the date of the holiday of Simchat Torah, during which state ceremonies are not held. This year, the day after Simchat Torah is a Friday, so the day of mourning will only begin at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday, October 26, and last until the same time on Sunday, October 27.
All government buildings will fly flags at half mast from sunrise until sunset on the day. The government decision also recommended that Israel's education system and the IDF hold appropriate commemoration activities and shut down all entertainment venues.
Both memorial ceremonies will include four symbols of government, including the president, prime minister, chief justice, and Knesset speaker. Transportation Minister MK Miri Regev was given general responsibility for executing the government's decision.
The right way to commemorate?
The decision came in the context of a broader debate about how to commemorate the massacre properly. Two major ceremonies were held to mark the one-year anniversary on October 7.
The first was a live ceremony led by families of casualties and hostages and did not include the participation of politicians or state symbols, and the second, which was also run by Regev, was pre-recorded and did not include a live audience.
Some families claimed that Regev has decided not to involve a live audience to avoid acts of protest. They also took issue with the fact that the government did not form the statutory ceremonies committee but chose to give Regev responsibility for what some viewed as a political award.
Other claims arose that there was no reason to hold a day of mourning this year after the state already conducted a ceremony on October 7. According to this view, Israel usually marks days with national importance according to their Hebrew dates, but this year, the de-facto day of mourning already occurred on October 7, and a second one was, therefore, unnecessary.