Israelis celebrate Simchat Torah near Nova Festival site despite ban by police, KKL-JNF

The celebration follows a similar event at the site in 2025, which angered the families of October 7 attack victims. As a result, the JNF and police banned such events in 2026.

A group of Israelis celebrated Simchat Torah near the Nova Music Festival memorial site on Saturday, despite a ban issued by the Israel Police and the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), N12 News reported.

According to the report, the event organizers called on the public prior to the event to "respect the different ways in which different families choose to mark the day their loved ones ascended to heaven in the attack."

The KKL-JNF later responded that the site is one of "remembrance and communion," saying visits to the memorial during the holiday are permitted only for that purpose.

"In coordination with the Israel Police and security and rescue authorities, no permission will be given to hold events or organized activities that are not for the purposes of remembrance and communion," the KKL-JNF declared.

N12 published footage of the event, with the cameraman commenting that they "agreed that it (the celebration) wouldn't take place here."

KKL-JNF chairman: We must preserve sanctity, memory of victims

"Just as no one would dare contemplate holding a party at the Auschwitz extermination camp, it is equally unthinkable to hold any celebration at the Nova site in Re'im Forest, where 378 civilians and members of the security forces were murdered," said KKL-JNF Chairman Eyal Ostrinsky. "We are guided by one single objective: preserving the sanctity of the memory of those murdered."

"This was our approach when we undertook the investment of millions to establish a memorial site for them and for all the people of Israel - at a time when the State had taken no action on the matter, even three years later," he added. "This is how KKL-JNF acted at the Nova site in Re'im Forest, and likewise in the North, the Jordan Valley, and the South - regions where we at KKL-JNF have invested billions of shekels."

JNF, police bans enacted following similar Simchat Torah event last year

The celebration follows a similar event at the site in 2025, which angered the families of October 7 attack victims. As a result, the KKL-JNF and police banned such events in 2026.

"On this day, my sister was murdered; my family members were murdered," bereaved family member Omri Rahum told N12. "They are dancing on their blood."

"On the monument, on the memorial display, on this sacred area, they are dancing, rejoicing, sleeping and eating," he continued. "It is not appropriate. It is like we would not want them to do this at Auschwitz, Yad Vashem, or any cemetery. From our perspective, it is equivalent to any of these things, if not more."