Exclusive records show Nova Festival files deleted from police systems
Newly obtained internal screenshots indicate that many documents tied to the police licensing and approval process for the Nova festival at the Reim parking lot were deleted from police computers and are no longer in the police system. The deletions reportedly happened in January 2024, but it is not known whether the files were saved elsewhere, and police have not identified who removed them.
The material was published Thursday evening by Israel’s Kan News program “Zman Emet.” It comes amid continuing disputes inside the police over how officers and units performed on October 7, and over claims that records may have been altered after the fact. Senior police figures have previously said documents were changed or interfered with to affect the record, and a senior officer reportedly raised a similar concern in a recent top-command briefing about the October 7 inquiry, saying entries may have been made retrospectively.
The Nova event took place on October 5 to 7, with the first two days run by another production and Nova added for one more day. Police and the army initially did not approve the party and imposed multiple conditions. The Ofakim police station and the Negev District wanted to help the organizers, despite opposition from intelligence officers. Eventually, after the army relented and Southern Command approved the event next to the Gaza fence, the festival was authorized even though the security situation was already unstable.
The screenshots show the police file labeled “public entertainment, nature party” under the security tab. The earliest document in the file dates to September 6, 2023, a Magen David Adom approval, followed by the festival request the next day, police licensing conditions on September 12, a safety plan on September 19, traffic and parking plans on September 29, and fire service approval and another safety plan in early October. After that, a long series of documents entered in September, October, and even January 2024, including at least 20 “event requirements” files from September 20 onward, were deleted immediately. Some had been added on October 5, the first day of the Reim event, and others on October 13 and 29, after the war began. On October 13, someone also changed the licensing file status from active to inactive, apparently to prevent further changes. It is unclear whether the deletions are known to the state comptroller or to the police’s October 7 investigative team.
