The word “massacre” was restored to the title of a bill establishing how to commemorate October 7 after backlash from the Prime Minister’s Office’s decision to remove the term from the legislation and replace it with “events” or “incidents.”
Bereaved families had accused the government of attempting to whitewash failures and rewrite the narrative after it was announced in February that “massacre” had been removed.
Restoring the word “massacre” to the bill’s title was discussed in the Knesset’s Education, Culture, and Sports Committee on Wednesday, as the legislation advances toward its final second and third readings.
Reconvening on the matter, acting committee chair MK Yosef Taieb (Shas) told the panel, “We are sensitive to the concerns. No one wants to whitewash or change the narrative.”
“Government ministries were attentive to the sensitivities, and we decided to restore the longer title that originally appeared in the private members’ bill submitted by the MKs, titled ‘Bill for the Remembrance of the Massacre and the Commemoration of Heroism.’”
Taieb also noted that discussions over the details of the legislation were still ongoing.
Knesset re-adds 'massacre' to title of Oct. 7 memorial bill
“Nothing has been definitively decided until we reach a vote. In any case, no one wants to whitewash or alter the narrative,” he told the panel.
The Knesset plenum passed the bill in its first reading in January. The legislation proposes establishing a national day of remembrance for the attacks and designates the 24th of Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar as the official day of commemoration.
The bill also proposes creating an authority responsible for overseeing commemoration activities and preserving the national memory of the attacks.
Until such an authority is formally established, the legislation stipulates that the Prime Minister’s Office will coordinate remembrance, documentation, and commemoration activities.
In addition, the bill proposes establishing a memorial site and museum in southern Israel, where the Hamas attacks took place.
The October Council, a forum representing bereaved families and victims of the attacks, expressed on Wednesday the importance of restoring the word “massacre” to the bill’s title.
“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, and abandonment,” the group explained.
“This struggle is not only about the wording of a law, but about how the State of Israel will remember October 7 for generations to come.”
Bereaved family members also raised concerns during Wednesday’s committee discussion about other aspects of the bill that they said could reshape the narrative and were particularly important.
One section of the bill emphasizes strengthening national resilience alongside commemorating the massacre, stating that one of the law’s goals is “strengthening national resilience and the cohesion of Israeli society.”
Representatives of bereaved families opposed the wording, arguing that a memorial law should focus solely on remembrance.
Bereaved families slammed the removal of 'massacre' from Oct. 7 memorial bill
“Why is strengthening social cohesion connected to this law? The law deals with the day of the massacre and the days surrounding it,” said Esther Buchshtab, whose son Yagev was kidnapped and murdered in Hamas captivity.
The mother of Shin Bet officer Ido Edri, murdered at the Supernova festival, also called on the committee to understand the families’ request to separate memorialization from broader national framing of the massacre.
MK Gilad Kariv (The Democrats) similarly called for narrowing the wording of the legislation and removing references to resilience.
“Society celebrates its resilience not on remembrance days. Keep this law focused and leave the issue of resilience to be dealt with elsewhere,” Kariv argued.
“The more we expand the law, the more we blur the massacre events, which are the focus of remembrance, and turn commemoration into an arena for endless political disputes,” he added.
Hila Abir, the sister of Lotan Abir, who was murdered at the Supernova music festival, addressed the importance of regulations at memorials located at public sites connected to the attacks. She also spoke at the Knesset panel.
She called for legislation regulating the Supernova site, which she described as having become “an amusement park of memorialization.”
Abir urged the regulation of the roadside shelters along Route 232, where victims of the attacks sought refuge from terrorists before they were murdered.
She warned that stopping along the road to visit memorial sites had become dangerous, as many drivers pull over on the highway.
In previous years, there have been disputes over commemoration ceremonies for October 7. Many bereaved families refused to participate in state events, arguing that the government held responsibility for failures on the day of the attacks.
In 2024, one year after the massacre, the country held separate ceremonies after bereaved families and survivors rejected attending an official state ceremony. Instead, they organized an alternate public memorial event on a separate day.
The debate surrounding the wording of the commemoration bill also comes amid past criticism over changes to official terminology related to the war.
In October, the government voted in favor of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to change the official name of the Israel-Hamas War from Operation Swords of Iron to the War of Revival.
That move sparked criticism, with opponents arguing that framing the war as a “revival” allowed the government to evade responsibility for the failures surrounding October 7.
Meanwhile, more than two-and-a-half years after the massacre, no official probe into the government’s handling of the attacks has yet been established. The dispute over the type of investigation that should be conducted and who should lead it remains ongoing.
The political echelon has repeatedly blocked the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, and Netanyahu has spoken out against judicial appointments to lead the investigation amid ongoing tensions between the government and the judiciary.
Instead, the government has advanced a highly controversial bill aimed at establishing a politically appointed committee to investigate the failures surrounding October 7.
Netanyahu remains among the only major officials who have not resigned after the massacre.
In February, the prime minister released a 55-page document outlining answers he gave to State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman as part of the investigation into the attacks.
The document pointed primarily to failures within the security establishment and appeared to deflect responsibility away from Netanyahu’s own role in the events leading up to the attacks.