{"id":286070,"date":"2026-02-11T17:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/286070\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T17:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:19:10","slug":"over-my-dead-body-pms-office-drops-massacre-from-oct-7-memorial-bill-sparking-outrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/286070\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Over my dead body\u2019: PM’s office drops \u2018massacre\u2019 from Oct. 7 memorial bill, sparking outrage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The word \u201cmassacre\u201d was removed, at the request of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, from the title of a bill establishing an annual commemoration of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, outraging bereaved families who have accused the government of trying to \u201cerase\u201d history and evade accountability.<\/p>\n

The stormy discussion was the latest argument in a long-running debate over how the attack will be investigated and remembered. Also on Wednesday, a Knesset committee discussed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s controversial effort to create a politically appointed investigation of the October 7 attack, rather than setting up a state commission of inquiry, Israel\u2019s highest investigative authority.<\/p>\n

Yoel Elbaz, a representative of Netanyahu\u2019s office, made the request to change the bill\u2019s name at a discussion of the legislation in the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee.<\/p>\n

And a draft of the bill distributed to committee members and guests at the start of the session bore the title \u201cMemory and Commemoration of the events of Simhat Torah,\u201d with a previous title including the word \u201cmassacre\u201d crossed out. (The attack occurred on the Jewish holiday of Simhat Torah.)<\/p>\n

The bill, which combines two pieces of legislation, is meant to be a consensus measure in the normally fractious Knesset. It is supported by more than 80 of the 120 MKs, and proposes that a national memorial day be held for the October 7 attack, the worst in Israel\u2019s history, on the 24th of the Jewish month of Tishrei.<\/p>\n

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That Hebrew date was chosen<\/a> in a March 2024 cabinet decision, which the bill would effectively enshrine. On that date, according to the bill, a state memorial ceremony would be held. The bill would also create a commemorative body in southern Israel, where the attack took place, including a memorial site, museum, and archive.<\/p>\n

But Elbaz sparked controversy during the committee discussion when he said that in describing the Hamas onslaught in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 kidnapped, the office preferred to use a Hebrew word that literally means \u201cevents,\u201d but has also been used in the past to refer to riots. The reason, he said, is that October 7 \u201cwas not only a massacre \u2014 there was also heroism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tMK Yosef Taieb leads a Knesset Education, Culture, and Sports Committee meeting, July 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cI don\u2019t know to what degree people will remember the name of the law \u2014 they will rather remember the activities carried out by the authorities, which will also preserve the memory of the massacre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, the acting committee chair, Shas MK Yosef Taieb, appeared to reject the idea, saying that \u201cthere will be no whitewashing of the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know today that there was a massacre. My concern is whether our children and grandchildren will know that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Still, the committee ended up deciding to accede to the request and remove the word \u201cmassacre,\u201d though Taieb said the issue will be revisited before a final vote.<\/p>\n

Bereaved families at the committee hearing expressed outrage over the removal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis law will pass over my dead body,\u201d said Hila Abir, sister of Lotan Abir, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Nova music festival. \u201cWhere is the death of our brothers and children? It was all erased!\u201d<\/p>\n

The October Council, representing families of those murdered during the October 7 attack, said in a statement that this is \u201cthe Prime Minister\u2019s Office\u2019s latest attempt to cover up the October 7 massacre.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement continued, \u201cWe are here to state clearly: there was a massacre. We paid the highest possible price for it. We will ensure that everyone responsible is investigated by a state commission of inquiry and also pays the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo politician\u2019s blood is redder than the blood of our children, our brothers, and our parents. Shame on you,\u201d it continued.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tBodies of slain Israeli civilians in the southern city of Sderot on October 7, 2023 following a massacre by Hamas terrorists. (Oren ZIV \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

In response, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office issued a statement saying that \u201ccontrary to recent reports, the bill explicitly includes the word \u2018massacre,’\u201d noting that the term appears in the text of the bill.<\/p>\n

A PMO spokesperson later elaborated to The Times of Israel that the request to change the title came not as an attempt to exclude the word \u201cmassacre,\u201d but rather to maintain the original name of the government\u2019s proposal, which never included that term.<\/p>\n

The bill that was advanced by the committee is a combination of two pieces of legislation: a private member\u2019s bill whose title included the word \u201cmassacre,\u201d and a government bill titled \u201cMemory and Commemoration of the Events of Simchat Torah.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prime Minister\u2019s Office is committed to a comprehensive and truthful commemoration of all aspects of the events, without distortion or omission, and is working to advance the bill in this spirit,\u201d the PMO statement said.<\/p>\n

But Abir linked the name change to Netanyahu\u2019s efforts to set up a politically appointed investigation of the attack rather than a state commission of inquiry. She said the Knesset committee was \u201cchanging the narrative\u201d before a commission of inquiry had been set up to establish what went wrong surrounding the attack.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tPeople watch on a screen the civilian October 7 memorial ceremony held at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv, during a gathering at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, on October 7, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Critics of Netanyahu\u2019s alternative inquiry say that the government should not be in charge of investigating an attack that happened on its watch, a critique Abir echoed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes no sense for the Prime Minister\u2019s Office to manage this event when it is the one preventing the investigation,\u201d Abir said. \u201cYou\u2019re leaving the cat to guard the cream?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe waited two and a half years, and we\u2019ll wait a little longer until there is a worthy law that suits everyone, until there is a worthy investigation,\u201d Abir said.<\/p>\n

Legal adviser slams politically appointed Oct. 7 commission of inquiry<\/p>\n

As the discussion unfolded at the Education Committee, the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee was discussing the proposal for a politically appointed inquiry, in the wake of criticism from committee legal adviser Gur Bligh.<\/p>\n

In a letter sent Tuesday night to the committee and published Wednesday by the Knesset Spokesperson\u2019s Office, Bligh strongly criticized the bill\u2019s proposal to give the government the power to set the commission\u2019s mandate and afford the Knesset the authority to appoint the commission\u2019s members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe party that determines the scope of the inquiry \u2014 what will be investigated and what will not be \u2014 can influence the course of the inquiry even before it begins. Granting this authority to the government may undermine the purpose that the bill sets for itself: to bring about a full and independent investigation, based on parity between the coalition and opposition, and thus broad public trust,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tKnesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Legal Adviser Gur Bligh, center, and committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman attend a committee meeting in Jerusalem, February 11, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Netanyahu has long opposed the formation of a state commission of inquiry<\/a>, claiming that because a state commission is appointed by the judiciary \u2014 whose powers his government has sought to curb \u2014 it would be biased against him.<\/p>\n

The coalition is instead advancing Likud MK Ariel Kallner\u2019s bill to set up a politically appointed probe<\/a> instead. Most hostages\u2019 families, and relatives of those murdered on October 7, oppose the legislation.<\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s legal adviser noted that historically in Israel, the government has not been given the power to define a commission\u2019s mandate and that in the case of the US 9\/11 Commission following the September 11, 2001, attacks, which the bill \u201cfrequently cited as a model,\u201d the executive branch \u201chad no role in defining [the mandate].\u201d<\/p>\n

Bligh also questioned whether the Knesset was the \u201cappropriate body\u201d to establish the committee and appoint its members, since the involvement of \u201cpolitical actors\u201d could undermine public trust in the inquiry.<\/p>\n

The bill proposed that the Knesset appoint the members of the committee leading the investigation by a vote of 80 members. If such a majority cannot be reached, half of the members will be appointed by the coalition and half by the opposition. Barring that, members will be appointed by the Knesset speaker.<\/p>\n

With opposition parties having pledged to boycott the commission, the bill would effectively give the government exclusive power to appoint its members, with no input from the opposition.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tPeople attend a protest demanding the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, attacks, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, February 7, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Because the proposed process for selecting the members ultimately gives power to the Knesset speaker \u2014 a member of the coalition \u2014 this \u201ccontradicts the objective of parity\u201d and is \u201cinconsistent with the declared purpose of the bill,\u201d Bligh said.<\/p>\n

The legal adviser also questioned why the body establishing the commission was different from the one defining the mandate of the commission, noting it may be unclear to whom the commission would report.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu has never acknowledged direct responsibility for the failures surrounding October 7 and relentlessly attempted to place the blame<\/a> on others, including political rivals and security chiefs.<\/p>\n

His latest step on that front was to release 55 pages of answers he provided to an inquiry into October 7 by the state comptroller, in which he quoted selectively from government meetings to depict himself as supportive of aggressive action against Hamas. Subsequent media reports, however, have highlighted numerous occasions on which the prime minister was warned of Hamas\u2019s plans for an attack, or reportedly declined opportunities to pursue a more forceful course against the terror group.<\/p>\n

Nava Freiberg contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The word \u201cmassacre\u201d was removed, at the request of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, from the title of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-286070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}