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.
