Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a grim and defiant message at Israel's state memorial ceremony on Mount Herzl today, marking three years since the October 7 massacre. Anyone who was involved in the attack against us and held our hostages is living on borrowed time, Netanyahu told the crowd, adding that day after day, we are settling accounts with these despicable murderers. The ceremony, held in the Plot of the Nation's Greats at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, began with a minute of silence at 6:29 a.m., the exact moment Hamas launched its 2023 assault. Netanyahu also used the moment to draw a hard line on Gaza's future, vowing flatly that there will be no Hamas rule in the territory ever again.

The ceremony honored the more than 1,200 people killed in the original attack along with the thousands of soldiers and security personnel who have died in the war that followed, a toll President Isaac Herzog addressed directly in his own remarks. Herzog recounted the story of the female lookouts stationed at the Nahal Oz base, several of whom were killed or taken hostage as they radioed the first warnings of the infiltration, and he cautioned that Israel cannot afford to ignore internal or external signs of trouble as it moves forward. Netanyahu's language echoed comments Israeli officials have repeated throughout the conflict, framing the ongoing military campaign as an open-ended reckoning with everyone tied to the attack. The ceremony comes as Israel heads toward upcoming elections, with security officials separately warning that Hamas could attempt to exploit the political moment.