Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted a "heroism-themed" Torah study session on Thursday at the Knesset sukkah with senior defense officials, marking Hoshana Rabbah, the final day of Sukkot, seen as an important judgment day.
The Prime Minister's Office stated that Mossad Director Roman Goffman, Shin Bet Director David Zini, and National Security Council Chief Shmuel Ben-Ezra, Police Commissioner Danny Levy, and Atomic Energy Council Chief Moshe Edri are expected to be in attendance. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana will also join the session.
The Prime Minister also invited students at the Tabor military preparatory academy, wives of IDF reservists, and wounded veterans. The Torah study will be dedicated to the memories of fallen soldiers and victims of terror, the recovery of those injured, and unity in Israel.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid was also invited to the event, but he announced he would not attend, claiming he received too short notice. "The Knesset Speaker sent me a WhatsApp message at 1:42 p.m. with an invitation to a Torah study event in the Sukkah this evening," Lapid wrote on X.
Lapid claimed there are two possibilities for the timing of the invitation and chided the event organizers: "Two possibilities: 1. they didn't know ahead of time that tonight is Hoshana Rabbah, and they were shocked to discover it suddenly on the calendar. 2. They intentionally sent it so late so I wouldn't be able to come, and they can say that I refused to go to a Torah study event."
Lapid concluded his post with a verse from Psalms: "In any case, since I can't come on such short notice, I will remind them that on Hoshana Rabbah night there is a custom to read Psalms, and I recommend they delve into the verse: 'O L-rd, save my soul from false lips, from a deceitful tongue. (Psalms 120:2)."