Bereaved families, hostage families and survivors announced a day of protest and remembrance for next Thursday, marking 1,000 days since the October 7 Hamas attack and demanding a state commission of inquiry. The announcement came at a press conference by October Council, against the backdrop of a report this week by ynet that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had struck a deal with ultra-Orthodox parties that would allow a political inquiry panel instead of a state one.
Reut Rechter-Adri, mother of Sgt. Maj. (res.) Ido Adri, who was murdered at the Nova festival, accused Shin Bet chief David Zini of trying to erase the failure that led to her son's death. She said he was using “the politics and the blood” of her child and of 10 Shin Bet fighters killed on October 7 to serve what she called the prime minister’s “abandonment and forgetting agenda.” October Council urged Israelis to stop on the 1,000th day, remember the victims and demand an official state investigation.
The day will begin at 06:29, the exact hour of Hamas’ surprise assault, with ceremonies in the north and south and with protest and memorial sites across the country. At 10:00, the council is calling on all citizens, workplaces, local authorities, companies, institutions and communities to pause for a nationwide minute of silence. The program also includes convoys, installations, testimony circles, discussion forums, a “wall of questions,” a poster exhibition and remembrance and protest actions at dozens of locations.
Hostage Square in Tel Aviv will reopen for one additional day, with displays on the lookout soldiers, hostages, tunnels, families, communities from the Gaza border area and the north, and unresolved questions. Testimony circles there will feature bereaved families, survivors of the massacre, hostage families, reservists and residents of the south and north. At 19:00, a “1,000 Days” march will leave from Tel Aviv Savidor Central train station, and at 20:00 a central rally in Hostages Square will call again for a state commission of inquiry.
Several speakers condemned the continued absence of an official investigation. Il Eshl, father of lookout soldier Roni Eshl, said the country ignored the women who warned of the attack and asked how it is possible that after 1,000 days there is still no state inquiry. Hagit Chen, mother of the slain hostage Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, said he was returned only after 760 days and asked why the government still fears a state commission. Her husband, Ruvik Chen, said anyone who refuses to commit to such an inquiry is putting the chair ahead of the truth. Inbar Goldstein, sister of the late Nadav Goldstein, said the October 7 generation will not leave its siblings, or the truth, behind.
