Israel marks third anniversary of 7 October 2023 attack

Right · 1Israel is marking three years since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, which fell on Simchat Torah. 1 Right · 1At Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, next to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the encampment set up by hostage families has largely gone. The Jerusalem Post, in a piece by Michele Chabin of JTA, says only the tunnel replica, a few yellow ribbons and a sign reading "Remember 7.10.23" remain. 1 Right · 1In the days before the anniversary a few hostage families set up a sukkah on the square and some people paid their respects, but the plaza was nearly empty. The report says that by outward appearances Israelis have moved on, though many are still grappling with the trauma of the attack and the multifront war it triggered. 1

Right · 1Polling cited by the Post: in a June N12 poll, 74% feared another large-scale terrorist attack and 66% wanted a state commission of inquiry into 7 October. A September Israel Democracy Institute survey found 68% of Jewish Israelis and 32% of Arab Israelis called the attack a "central factor" in their party choice, behind security and the cost of living. 1 Right · 1Interviewees at a café by the square described lasting effects. Realtor Isaac Badra, 33, said he jumps at noises outside, and defence-industry worker Roni Shoval, 54, called the attacks "a modern Holocaust for Israel" and said he is not ready to visit the Nova memorial, where the report says Hamas murdered 378 people. 1 Right · 1Students Yael Meyer and Talia Zecler, both 24, said a attack the previous day aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv had reinforced the trauma. Meyer said trust in the government has gone since 7 October, and Zecler recalled the unity Israelis showed afterwards. The article gives no further details of the flight attack. 1

Right · 1A 19-year-old IDF soldier, identified only as S. under military protocol, said she wants a national investigation of 7 October as the country prepares to vote on 27 October. 1 Right · 1Separately, in an opinion piece for JNS, Yael Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews describes the group's "Flags of Fellowship" campaign, begun three years ago, in which churches plant Israeli flags in memory of those killed. Eckstein says more than 4,350 churches have planted over 5.2 million flags, in the US and in countries including Canada, Colombia, Australia and Mexico. 2 Right · 1Eckstein says the third annual ceremony was held at Banias Church in northern Israel, with an anchor event this year at World Outreach Church in Tennessee hosted by Pastor Allen Jackson. Eckstein presents the flags as a spiritual rather than political statement. 2