Two and a half years after the October 7 massacre, the torches in Dizengoff Square no longer stand as upright as they once did. The colors have faded, some of the photos are barely recognizable, and the installation bears the marks of time and weather.
But it is still there — and for grieving citizens and bereaved families, who placed the faces of those murdered and fallen from that terrible Saturday and the war that began that day and continues, it is more than a memorial. It is proof they have not been forgotten.
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The memorial site at Dizengoff Square was established and grew spontaneously
(Photo: Yuval Chen)
Now, the families say, the threat to the installation does not come from rain or wind — but from the Tel Aviv municipality.
Gal Goren, 23, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, whose parents, Maya and Avner Goren were murdered on October 7, says the very idea of dismantling the installation is “very painful and infuriating. I know we are not the only bereaved family that feels this way.
“They are planning to dismantle the memorial without a proper solution to replace it,” Goren said. “From my perspective and that of many bereaved families, setting up a committee — God knows when — to start discussing where to place a new memorial is not a solution.”
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Maya and Avner Goren of Kibbutz Nir Oz were murdered on October 7 and whose bodies were taken to Gaza
The installation in Dizengoff Square was set up spontaneously days after the massacre by bereaved parents and grieving citizens seeking a way to commemorate the many victims. At the heart of the square, around its well-known fountain, they placed 1,391 torches — the number of people murdered in the massacre as of Oct. 12, 2023.
Over the past two and a half years, the site has become a grassroots place of remembrance. Alongside the torches and candles, photos, stickers and the names of the victims and fallen soldiers have been added. “It is a very respectful and human place,” Goren said. “There are many fallen soldiers from the war there, and my parents are there as well. It allows people to connect to the pain of what has happened here over the past three years.”
He added that Israeli society has a strong urge to move forward, but that this often comes at the expense of memory. “People in trauma need a certain level of recognition, to know they are not being forgotten. The attempt to move on is human, but in practice it harms families and society. We need — and this entire nation needs — a reminder of those who paid with their lives that Saturday and in the war overall.”
'We only asked to remember the children'
Talila Ariel, whose son Dan Ariel was murdered at the Nova music festival, also criticized the municipality’s position. “This initiative in the square was built by bereaved parents and citizens — they created facts on the ground,” she said.
“When you ask the municipality why it decided to dismantle the installation, they say there is a memorial site in the ‘Garden of the Fallen Soldiers.’ But seeing my son’s name on a black stone pillar is not a form of commemoration I can connect to.”
She said the families had proposed alternatives, but were met with refusal or demands for high costs they could not afford. “The installation in the square is a living place, people are there all the time,” she said. “There is meaning in having it in the center of the city, in a place that cannot be ignored. We didn’t ask to turn the city into a memorial site — just for there to be one central place that remembers the children.”
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Dan Ariel was murdered at the Nova music festival: 'seeing my son’s name on a black stone pillar is not commemoration I can connect to'
In recent months, the installation has struggled to withstand the elements and now requires significant restoration. According to Ariel, “something more durable needs to be built there — even a central installation that commemorates all those murdered and fallen in the massacre and the Swords of Iron war. The parents are willing to pay for it, as long as something dignified is built.”
Tali Atias, whose daughter Dorin Atias was murdered at the Nova festival, emphasized the unique importance of Tel Aviv as a place of remembrance. “Dorin lived in Tel Aviv and all her friends are here. Every time someone sits in the square, I receive a photo of her. People remember her. For me, this is the only place where I can make her present.”
It is precisely the accessibility and centrality of the square, she said, that gives the installation its significance. “People from central and northern Israel don’t go often to the Nova site near Re’im — certainly not as much as they come to Dizengoff Square.
“It is terrible that there is an attempt to hide what happened here. People were slaughtered, murdered, raped — and no one talks about it anymore. It breaks my heart,” she added. “Every child is an entire world, with a million dreams, broken families and grieving siblings. Dorin was an entire world, and I will never marry her off or have grandchildren from her.
“On October 8, while we still didn’t know whether she was alive or dead, we received her certification as a Pilates instructor. She had a million dreams, and she will never be able to fulfill any of them,” she recalls.
Atias stressed that the families are not opposed to formalizing or upgrading the memorial, but demand a concrete solution before any dismantling. “Let us feel that we are not alone, that there is someone who remembers my daughter,” she pleads.
The Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality said in response: “Contrary to the claims, no decision has been made to evacuate Dizengoff Square. If such a decision is made, it will be carried out with sensitivity and with proper respect for the fallen and their commemoration.”
First published: 09:01, 04.16.26