Minister of Transportation Miri Regev addressed the criticism of her appointment as organizer of the 10/7 anniversary ceremony.
"I have been in charge of state ceremonies for a decade, and there are always those who, unfortunately, are not satisfied, but there are not many," said Regev. "I ignore the noises – I will continue to organize the ceremony."
She added: "I understand the feelings of those who are angry with us, the government, the army and the security forces. There was a big oversight and I also have difficult questions. We must set up an investigative committee."
"People from all sectors of the Israeli society were murdered and kidnapped; citizens and soldiers from all over the country. There is no home in the country that has not experienced the tragedy and pain. We are one people and one country. I treat this ceremony with the utmost reverence. I am used to getting complaints."
Regev announced that the ceremony will take place without an audience in order to honor the memory of the victims. She also stated that the ceremony will not be broadcast live. "The ceremony will be televised," said Regev.
In addition, Regev said that she is "taking into account that there will be alternative ceremonies to commemorate October 7th, like others do Palestinian-Israeli ceremonies on the Soldiers’ Memorial Day."
She also said: "To compare me to Hamas or Sinwar?! There is no limit to what people say? I don't have a family? Parents? Children? How far will the incitement go, just because of political hatred. If you look at the ceremonies I have organized over the past decade, such as the Independence Day ceremony, that was held a few months ago, terrible things were said about me before the ceremony and in the end, it was an exciting and unifying ceremony. Enough with the hatred and lies, I understand the pain and anger, but there is a limit to incitement and divisiveness."
In response to Arutz Sheva – Israel National News’ question as to why Yair Lapid was not invited to the ceremony if it is a state event, she replied: "He is not part of the protocol. It is a state ceremony. At a state ceremony the Prime Minister and President of the State speak."
Regarding the disagreement with Minister Eliyahu, she said: "As a state, it is not right to hold an event that is parallel to the state ceremony. I hope that the Ministry of Heritage will understand that they must all be part of the state ceremony. The Jerusalem or Tel Aviv Municipalities or some of the kibbutzim can do this, but as a state there is only one state ceremony."
The families of the victims of the October 7th massacre, who are organizing the national ceremony on October 7th, responded: "The background noise that Minister Regev spoke about is us. Bereaved families, residents of the Gaza surrounding region and the North, the reservists who paid and are paying a heavy price for the events of October 7th. Minister Regev showed a complete divide between the government's decision to produce an engineered and a disconnected ceremony costing millions of shekels, that will be filmed and edited in advance."
MK Miki Levy responded: "Miri, it's not noise. This is a cry of pain for the biggest disaster that has happened to us since the establishment of the state. The disaster that happened on the watch of your government and that you ignore. Sorry, keep ignoring. This is a great shame."