Herzog attends memorial at Nova festival site, calls for international cooperation to disarm Hamas

“We are here to tell their stories, and to remember, and reflect, and reminisce, and say to the world: we will dance again, we will live again," Herzog said.

President Isaac Herzog attended and addressed a memorial ceremony on Wednesday, held at the site of the Nova Festival in Reim, where hundreds of festival-goers were murdered and abducted during the October 7 massacre three years ago. 

Herzog first made a statement to international media, explaining the importance of the memorial. 

“Here at the Nova Musical Festival, thousands of young people came to sing and to dance, to celebrate life. People of 36 nationalities, from all over the world and from Israel. They were horrifically butchered, killed, tortured, raped, and abducted into Gaza," Herzog said. 

“We are here to tell their stories, and to remember, and reflect, and reminisce, and say to the world: we will dance again, we will live again. We are a nation in agony, but we are showing immense resilience. This whole region, which was attacked barbarically on October 7th, is now rebuilding."

Herzog says Hamas disarmament way to future

“We are a nation like all nations. We have the inherent right to defend ourselves and fight terror. But we yearn for peace, and we want our neighbors to live in peace as well," he said.

The only way forward is "by implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2301, which calls for the disarming of Hamas. This should be the international goal, as well as combating the empire of evil from Tehran," Herzog said. 

“I want to thank everybody who came here, and all those who have sent messages of condolences and share in our pain. Let the memory of those who were killed be a blessing to all of us,“ he concluded.