President Isaac Herzog on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposing that Israel’s official ceremony marking the October 7 massacre be held at the President's Residence and not include any political symbols.
He later said the suggestion was made "in light of the severe and painful disagreements that have developed over the past week, in the interest of lowering the flames of discord and preventing unnecessary strife among the people."
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog
(Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/Pool)
The controversy surrounding the state event came to a head on Thursday when Transportation Minister Miri Regev held a press briefing on the ceremony’s preparations, following announcements from several kibbutzim located near the Gaza border who refused to participate in the state ceremony.
Regev may have tried to show some empathy toward the protesters but instead sparked even more outrage. Among other things, she referred to the protests as "background noise" and compared the alternative ceremonies being planned to the Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony.
In a letter Herzog sent to Netanyahu, with a copy to Regev, he suggested that "every community, group, settlement, kibbutz, town and city commemorate the anniversary as they see fit, as is customary on Israel Memorial Day (Yom Hazikaron). Additionally, I propose the main state ceremony be held at the President's Residence this year."
He added, "The ceremony, which would be coordinated by the President's Residence in ongoing and attentive dialogue with the relevant state and social bodies, will be respectful, unifying, state-oriented and modest, and of course, will be held without any political symbols.”
“The ceremony will include traditional state elements such as lowering the flag to half-mast and reciting Kaddish, Yizkor, and El Maleh Rachamim (Jewish prayers of mourning), as well as additional content to be determined in with joint coordination. Government officials and representatives from all communities whose worlds were shattered on October 7 will be invited to the ceremony,” Herzog wrote.
The president concluded the letter with a request to Netanyahu "to consider this proposal with the seriousness it deserves and bring it to discussion in the Ministerial Committee on Symbols and Ceremonies."
He added, "Great responsibility lies on the shoulders of elected officials at this time. The citizens of Israel are looking to their representatives and expect the upcoming memorial days to be a source of comfort, healing, repair, growth, faith, reconstruction and hope — and not days of division, polarization, and, God forbid, discord."