World Zionist Organization hosts first memorial ceremony to mark one Jewish calendar year since Oct 7 in Sderot

Sderot mayor calls on government to finish the job, 'destroy our enemies'

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A ceremony to mark one year since the horrific events of Oct. 7 was held in Sderot on Wednesday evening, in cooperation with the World Zionist Organization.

Dignitaries in attendance included Alon Davidi, mayor of Sderot, along with mayors from the surrounding area, bereaved families, and other dignitaries.

The event was live broadcast via social media to communities throughout the Jewish Diaspora.

The ceremony, hosted by the World Zionist Organization (WZO), was the first of several memorial ceremonies commemorating the massacres on Oct. 7th planned to be held in Israel in the coming weeks.

Candles were lit by WZO Chairman Yaakov Hagoel, Yifat Ovadia Loski, chairman of KKL-JNF, Itamar Ravivo, head of the Hof Ashkelon regional council, Shay Hajaj, head of the Merhavim regional council, and Alon Davidi, mayor of Sderot. Advocate Amir Leon, the legal advisor of the World Zionist Organization, recited Kaddish for his son Sgt. Adi Leon, an Israeli hero who fell during fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Hagoel honored his brother-in-law, Asaf Schlezinger, who directed the medical department at the Nova Festival, and was murdered while responding to the wounded in the field.

“We stand alongside the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones, injured individuals who have witnessed unimaginable horrors, and parents anxiously awaiting the return of their sons and daughters from captivity,” Hagoel said. “Each of these individuals has become a vital part of the enduring mosaic of the revival of the people of Israel in their homeland. They are heroes.”

Hagoel also said, “Calls for victory in the war, for the restoration of security to our borders, and the safe and speedy return of the hostages continue to resonate deeply with us all. The blood of our brothers cries out to us from the ground.”

Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi said, “Much has been said about the seventh of October and what led to it, and I don't want to deal with that, but I always say that a smart country or any smart person can make mistakes, and sometimes mistakes are difficult.”

He said his concern is for Israelis living in Israel’s northern communities.

“But the day we remember, we need to look north as well, and I wish my brothers and sisters in the north not to experience what we went through in the last 23 years, not to experience the seventh of October, God forbid.”

Davide called on the government to "use everything it has" to finish the war against Israel's enemies.

"The State of Israel must use everything it has in the intelligence agencies, the Mossad, the Shin Bet, the IDF, all government bodies, all the energies in our hearts and minds in order to complete the job, destroy our enemies and their ability to harm us both in the north and in the south."