Knesset restores 'massacre' to October 7 memorial bill after backlash from bereaved families

The Israeli Knesset's Education, Culture, and Sports Committee has restored the word "massacre" to the title of a bill establishing how to commemorate the October 7 attacks. This decision follows significant backlash from bereaved families who accused the government of attempting to whitewash failures and rewrite the narrative after the Prime Minister's Office initially removed the term from the legislation.

Acting committee chair MK Yosef Taieb (Shas) addressed the concerns, stating, "We are sensitive to the concerns. No one wants to whitewash or change the narrative." He added that government ministries were attentive to the sensitivities and that the committee decided to reinstate the original title from the private members' bill: "Bill for the Remembrance of the Massacre and the Commemoration of Heroism."

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We are sensitive to the concerns. No one wants to whitewash or change the narrative.

Taieb also noted that discussions regarding the bill's specific details are ongoing, emphasizing that "Nothing has been definitively decided until we reach a vote. In any case, no one wants to whitewash or alter the narrative." The Knesset plenum passed the bill in its first reading in January. The legislation proposes establishing a national day of remembrance for the attacks, designating the 24th of Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar as the official commemoration day.

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Nothing has been definitively decided until we reach a vote. In any case, no one wants to whitewash or alter the narrative.

Furthermore, the bill suggests creating an authority responsible for overseeing commemoration activities and preserving national memory. Until this authority is formally established, the Prime Minister's Office will coordinate remembrance, documentation, and commemoration efforts. The legislation also proposes establishing a memorial site and museum in southern Israel, the location where the Hamas attacks occurred.

The October Council, a forum representing bereaved families and victims, expressed the importance of restoring the word "massacre" to the bill's title. They stated, "At a time when there are those trying to soften, blur, and rewrite what happened here, the families continue fighting to ensure that the national memory includes the truth: massacre, failure."

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At a time when there are those trying to soften, blur, and rewrite what happened here, the families continue fighting to ensure that the national memory includes the truth: massacre, failure.