Former hostage Eli Sharabi and Israeli actress Shani Cohen will host the third grassroots memorial ceremony for the October 7 massacre.
Bereaved families, former captives, representatives of affected communities and artists will participate in the event, in Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv on October 7, the Kumu movement, which is organizing it, announced on Sunday. In the absence of a state memorial ceremony, the the grassroots ceremony will effectively be the only one on that day. Kumu, an NGO founded in 2024, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for it.
Sharabi is a resident of Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the Gaza border communities overrun by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Hamas released him as part of the second deal in February 2025 after 491 days in captivity. After his release, he learned that his wife, Liyan, and their two daughters, Noya and Yahel, were murdered in the Hamas attack, while his brother Yossi Sharabi was murdered in captivity.
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“October 7 must be forever etched in our hearts as a day of resilience,” Sharabi said. “Time mustn’t let us forget. This terrible day mustn’t pass without a national, central and meaningful ceremony. The pain still touches us everywhere, and I know this will be an emotional and challenging event.”
Cohen said she was “proud to host the ceremony alongside a person who chose life despite everything he went through.” She added, “This is something that deeply moves me, our strength to overcome the terrible difficulty and empower others along the way.”
Some 25,000 people gathered in Yarkon Park for last year’s ceremony.