About 1,500 people, including families of abductees and bereaved families, participated this evening (Monday) in a beacon extinguishing ceremony at Amphi Shoni. The ceremony, moderated by journalists Jackie Levy and Lucy Ahrish, opened with recordings from the morning of October 7 and a prayer of remembrance by actor Dror Keren. Later, the various representatives turned off 12 beacons and gave personal speeches. At the same time, the headquarters of the families of the abductees held another ceremony in the plaza of the Tel Aviv Museum, with the participation of thousands, and in the city’s Hiba square, thousands demonstrated against the government and for the return of the abductees.
The first beacon – the loss of personal security – was extinguished by Galit Dan, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz whose mother and daughter were murdered in the October 7 massacre, and three members of her family were kidnapped to Gaza. After her, Lior and Amos Alon – residents of Kibbutz Bari who survived the massacre – went up to turn off the “Beacon of Lawlessness of the Outaf Residents”. The third beacon – the desolation of Habel Eretz – was extinguished by Yasmin Porat, a survivor of the Nova party and the hostage event in Bari, which ended with a tank shell being fired at a house in the kibbutz.
“I was a hostage in murderous hands, and no one came to save,” Porat said. “When they arrived, there was no salvation. The terrorist who was guarding me decided to surrender. I was his human shield and he was mine and thus, thanks to him, my life was saved. The fate of the other hostages was bitter.” After her, Eyal and Sharon Eshel – the parents of the observer Roni Eshel who was murdered in HML in Nahal Oz – came up and turned off the “Beacon of Arrogance.” “Turn off this beacon so that the State of Israel will wake up,” they said.
The fifth beacon – the disclaimer beacon – was extinguished by “Tailor General (resp.)” David Agmon, who fought in battles in Otef that day. He was followed by Tamir Reicher, Liat Kobrigro, and Noa Zemberg Kersi – who established civil militias on the day of the massacre and afterwards for the abductees, and extinguished the “Beacon of the abandonment of the citizens to their fate”; Michal Lahav – displaced from her home in the north for seven months, later wrote the “Beacon of the Displaced” , and said: “The state, which failed to protect us, its citizens, on October 7, and which used us as its living line of defense, is now abandoning us.”
She was followed by Doron and Shir Shabtai, residents of Sderot, who extinguished the eighth beacon – “the beacon of erosion of the reserve families”; The ninth beacon – the beacon of women’s personal safety in Israel – was extinguished by Ravid Menashe, one of the founders of the headquarters for the recognition of harm to women in war. After her, Dafna Sheft, a psychiatrist in the public service, turned off the “Beacon of Neglect of Mental Health”. The 11th Beacon – the Zilot Ha’im Beacon – was extinguished by Yael Alon, a bereaved mother and daughter.
The last beacon – the beacon of the abduction of the kidnapped – was extinguished by Merav Sabirsky and Carmit Pelati Katzir, whose brothers Itai Sabirsky and Elad Katzir were murdered by Hamas. “Iti and Elad were murdered in the captivity of Hamas and thus their lives were sacrificed for the second time by the Israeli government,” said Marev. “A government, and its leader, who repeatedly prioritize fighting and fighting over saving lives, over the lives of Elad and Itai.”
After that, Einav Tsengauker, the mother of Matan who was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, took the stage, who was greeted with shouts of “heroine”. She lit a single torch at this ceremony – the “Beacon of Hope”, and spoke. “We have a people but our country has been hijacked. We have amazing people but we don’t have a government that leads us,” she said. “We will be the pillar of fire that will lead the camp, we will be the camp that will lead the correction. We, who understand that what is most important is life – human life.”
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