The October Council, which organized the protest at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, noted that this year would mark "the third Remembrance Day without answers."
Far-right activist Mordechai David confronted Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing party the Democrats as he was returning to his car after a protest at Tel Aviv's Habima Square on Saturday night. He yelled at Golan, saying, "Who is the baby-killer, coward? You call Bibi a traitor? Who are you to call Bibi a traitor?"
The October Council, an organization representing families of victims and hostages, held a protest on Saturday night at Habima Square entitled "Day of Forgetting," in which they demanded that the government establish a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7 Hamas attack.
Other protest events were held earlier in the day in front of the homes of various government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, and Sports and Culture Minister Miki Zohar.
Remembrance Day without answers becomes 'Day of Forgetting'
The events were held just before Israel's national Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror. The October Council noted that this year would mark "the third Remembrance Day without answers."
Eyal Eshel, father of slain IDF field observer Roni Eshel, spoke to the crowd at Habima Square, saying that his daughter "didn't die because [the government] didn't know. Roni died because they didn't listen. For us, this is not an event; it's a failure."
Golan released a statement following the protest, amplifying Eshel's words and condemning the government, saying: "What happened on October 7 was not just a systemic failure or a mistake...it was conscious neglect of the brave young women who did their job and warned [the leadership]...who chose to ignore and belittle them, and ultimately escape responsibility."
In recent months, David was reported to have followed independent journalist Orly Bar-Lev to her car and Channel 13 legal correspondent Aviad Glickman to a train station after hearings in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial. He also confronted Channel 12 reporter Guy Peleg over his reporting on the Sde Teiman case.
David’s name drew wider national attention in late January, when he and others blocked former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak's car as he was leaving a conference in Tel Aviv.
A magistrate’s court in early April issued a six-month restraining order against David, barring him from coming within 50 meters of the home of Standing Together national co-director Alon-Lee Green and within 25 meters of Green himself, after finding that David’s conduct crossed from political protest into threatening harassment.
The order was issued after a hearing on Green’s request, which centered on a late-March incident at Green’s home but also referred to additional alleged confrontations around anti-war protests in Tel Aviv over the previous week.
The roundabout journey toward a state commission of inquiry
The Knesset's Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill proposal in December to establish a politically-appointed commission of inquiry into the events of October 7. The opposition, at the time, announced it would not participate in forming the commission, arguing that the framework falls short of a state commission of inquiry under existing law.
"The government's repeated attempts to establish political cover-up committees instead of a state commission of inquiry are just more failures," Golan said on Saturday night. "You are waiting for us to forget."
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.
