Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs tweeted this evening to respond to criticism surrounding the date of the national memorial day for the October 7th massacre.
The government decided to set the 24th of Tishrei as the memorial day, that is, two days after Sukkot.
Fuchs explained that the decision was made for religious reasons. He wrote, "According to the Jewish law practiced by the people of Israel for thousands of years, there is no mourning during festival days, including the intermediate period of Chol Hamoed."
"For this reason, we could not make Simchat Torah as a day of remembrance and mourning, nor the day after — which remains a holiday in the Jewish diaspora — nor October 7th itself, which this year falls during Sukkot and will in other years fall on different Hebrew dates."
"The people of Israel have preserved their tradition even in the darkest periods of history. Let us all pray that we will merit to see the return of all our hostages home before this memorial day," Fuchs said.