Former hostage Eli Sharabi will host Israel’s main October 7 memorial ceremony alongside actress Shani Cohen. The ceremony, organised by the Kumu movement and October 7 bereaved families, will be held at Park HaYarkon in Tel Aviv on October 7, marking the third anniversary of the Hamas massacre.
Sharabi, who was held hostage in Gaza for 491 days, lost his wife, Lianne, and daughters Noya and Yahel in the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri. His brother Yossi was also murdered.
“I am deeply moved to host the National Memorial Ceremony of the October 7 Families this year,” Sharabi said.
“I am fulfilling the promise I made to my wife Lianne, my daughters Noya and Yahel, and my brother Yossi, of blessed memory, that they and what happened to them, and to us, will never be forgotten.”
Sharabi said October 7 “must remain etched in our hearts forever as an indelible date” and warned against allowing the passage of time to diminish its significance.
“It must not be blurred, and we must not allow the passage of time to erase it,” he said.
The ceremony will honour those murdered and killed on October 7, as well as bereaved families and communities affected by the attack. Organisers said they aim to make it a “dignified, unifying and inclusive” national event representing all sections of Israeli society.
Cohen said October 7 was “a defining event in all of our lives” and said she was proud to host the ceremony alongside Sharabi, describing his decision to rebuild his life after his captivity as deeply moving.
Omri Shafroni, who lost four family members in the Be’eri massacre and helped organise the ceremony, said Sharabi and Cohen were the right people to tell “our story, the families’ story, and the story of Israeli society as a whole”.
The ceremony will be broadcast by Israel’s major media outlets and international broadcasters, with community screenings planned around the world.
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