The state memorial ceremony for the October 7 massacre was held Monday afternoon at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, marking three years since the Hamas attack.
The ceremony was dedicated to the memory of those murdered in the massacre and to honoring acts of heroism by civilians and security forces during the October 7 attack.
President Isaac Herzog addressed the ceremony, marking three years since the attack and paying tribute to those murdered and those who fell in battle.
“Three years since the day of our catastrophe, October 7th, we bow our heads in memory of those who were murdered and those who fell in battle, and we stand by your side, our dear and beloved bereaved families," Herzog said.
The President described the scope of the loss caused by the attack, referring to the communities, towns, kibbutzim, moshavim, fields and roadside shelters that became part of what he called “the map of mourning of October 7th."
Herzog focused in particular on Route 232, which he said “ceased to be an ordinary road" on the morning of the attack.
“Bloodthirsty terrorists turned it into a war zone," he said. “Through it, they infiltrated towns, kibbutzim, and communities, turning the quiet streets of a Shabbat morning into a battlefield."
Herzog noted that hundreds of innocent civilians, Israeli women and men, were murdered, alongside foreign nationals who had “bound their fate with ours."
At the same time, he said, Route 232 also became “a road of rescue," as Israelis drove toward the areas under attack in an effort to save others.
“In one direction, many were forced to flee, seeking to save their lives or to call for help. In the other direction, at the very same time, people drove toward the danger to offer that very help," Herzog said.
“They set out to save their sisters and brothers. And through their heroism, we discovered one of the great truths about Israel: when someone is left by the side of the road, there are Israelis who simply cannot keep driving as if they had not seen them."
Herzog described these actions as an expression of Israeli heroism.
“This is Israeli heroism, unmatched anywhere in the world," he said.
He added that this same spirit had been demonstrated again the previous week, referring to “the grave disaster averted in the skies thanks to the remarkable resourcefulness of Israeli passengers on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv."
Earlier Monday, a separate state ceremony was held at the Great Leaders of the Nation section of Mount Herzl in memory of IDF soldiers and members of the security forces who fell during the war.