
Iris Haim, whose son Yotam Haim was kidnapped to Gaza on October 7 and later killed while attempting to escape captivity, on Wednesday morning criticized the "alternative" October 7 memorial ceremony as "dangerous."
"I want to have a state and that there should continue to be a state," Haim told Galei Israel Radio. "Any government formed after this war could be a government who could be protested against through the bereaved families."
Israel will hold a national governmental memorial ceremony for the October 7 massacre victims, but many people are unhappy with the government's plans and have begun to plan their own "alternative" ceremony, effectively splitting the Israeli public in two. Israeli President Isaac Herzog proposed a compromise, but this was rejected by the government.
"The alternative ceremony is not a memorial ceremony, it is a protest against the current government," Haim explained. "The people who lead the country today are people who were elected, and I remind you: I voted Meretz-Labor and Yesh Atid-Gantz, but we have a responsibility."
"I think that the alternative ceremony is dangerous. Maybe if it were not during a war, I would be able to hold a discussion about that option, especially since it is clear that there will be many personal ceremonies in kibbutzes, towns, and cities. When they say 'alternative ceremony,' they are essentially saying, 'Let's create an alternative to the State of Israel.'"
"It is clear that at the alternative ceremony as well, politics will be present," she added.
"I don't think that what the President offered is correct, and I have no doubt that from his perspective, he wanted good, but the very proposal, which would take from the government something that belongs to the State that it leads - that is also a kind of alternative ceremony, when it comes down to it."