October 7th Victims' Families Condemn Leadership Over Warnings

Families of victims from the October 7th Hamas attack have established a "Failure Booth" during the intermediate days of Passover to protest what they call a "whitewashing and history rewriting campaign by the political echelon." This action follows recent reports in The New York Times and The Atlantic alleging that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials received explicit warnings from Middle Eastern leaders in the weeks preceding the attack.

At the "Failure Booth," families voiced their anger and disbelief. Shelly Meshel Yogev, mother of a Nova music festival victim, questioned how leaders could sleep at night despite receiving numerous warnings, stating, "The question is not whether they woke him up or not, but how he sleeps at night at all after all the warnings he received." She emphasized that over 2,000 graves exist because of the government's alleged inaction and called for the resignation of all political and security figures involved.

Einav Tsengauker, mother of a released hostage, echoed these sentiments, highlighting a "code of silence" being broken by media reports. She criticized the repeated claims of ignorance from officials, stating, "This is a false campaign. Whoever had their hand on the wheel when the country reached October 7th must step down, this applies to the Prime Minister, the political echelon, and the security echelon. Everyone, without exception."

Gil Dickman, cousin of a kidnapped and murdered victim, urged those who knew and remained silent to speak out, warning of future failures if accountability is not taken. "The families of October 7th have finished being silent," he declared.

Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the "Yisrael" party and former IDF chief of staff, visited the booth, acknowledging the deepening understanding of the "failure and the contempt that led to it." He pledged to establish an inquiry commission to investigate the events leading up to and following the attack, contrasting his commitment to accountability with that of others who he claimed avoid the issue and have not yet established such a commission.