What to watch this week as Israel marks two monumental days

For most of us, there has never been a Remembrance Day where we have known more of those who fell in battle or were killed by terrorists. 

There is a lot of television and movie programming this year that honors them and those they left behind, as well as Independence Day-themed content after the abrupt transition from the day of national mourning.

This year, Remembrance Day begins on the evening of May 12, and Independence Day the next evening on May 13.

One of the saddest stories is that of the female border observers at the Nahal Oz base, which was overrun by Hamas terrorists early on October 7, where 15 of these observers were killed and six were taken hostage. 

One of these hostages, Noa Marciano, was killed by Hamas while in captivity, and another, Ori Megidish, was rescued. 

Documentary to watch on Israel's memorial day 

The documentary on Kan 11, Eyes Wide Open by Noa Aharoni, tells the story of these observers, the fear their families suffered when they learned of the attack, and their grief when almost all of them learned that their daughters had been murdered or kidnapped. It will be shown on May 12 after the news.

In this documentary, the parents remember their daughters’ love for life, their friendships with other soldiers, and their plans for the future. It’s heartbreaking to see them on the base, having fun with each other during their time off in clips from before October 7.

 And it’s equally tough to see the parents in their daughters’ empty rooms, looking at what was returned to them by the army. Yael Liebushor’s father holds up a charred dog tag that was found on his daughter’s body, and it is hard for him, and for us, to look at it.

THIS ISN’T just a story of loss, however, but also of anger and disillusionment – because they could have prevented it, and what has happened since then, if their warnings had been heeded. 

Many of these observers shared with their families that they were seeing Hamas terrorists practicing maneuvers along the border on a regular basis, and some actually told their parents they were expecting war to break out shortly. They shared this information with their commanders, who ignored them. 

In an especially sad scene, the parents of Roni Eshel, one of the observers who was killed, play a conversation they had with her not long before her death, in which she told them she was “breaking down” because she was sure there was about to be a war based on what she had seen on the border. “There are things I know that you don’t,” she told her mother. 

Her mother encouraged her to persevere, as any mother would. The Wednesday before October 7, Roni told her father it was hard to return to the base, but he reassured her – as any father would – that everything would be OK. “The IDF is strong,” he said.

But as we now know, it wasn’t strong enough on October 7, when these unarmed border observers were told by the commanders who they turned to for help to “manage on their own” – and they heroically stayed at their posts as long as they could. The few armed male soldiers left to guard the base were killed or severely injured, and the base was quickly overrun. 

The whole saga of the unheeded warnings and observers’ brutal deaths and kidnappings makes this story even sadder and will be among the main questions raised by any commission of inquiry that follows the war.

SCREAMS BEFORE SILENCE, the documentary that former Facebook COO and author Sheryl Sandberg created about the sexual assaults committed by Hamas on October 7 and since, is available on YouTube and can also be seen on Cellcom TV, Hot, and Yes. 

This documentary definitely belongs in the category of Remembrance Day programming because it presents clear evidence that the vast majority of sexual assault victims were murdered following, and sometimes during, the attacks.

Reshet 13 has initiated a project, “Iron Memory: Last Word,” that features videos in which people share memories of those they lost on October 7. These videos are on the Reshet website, as well as on Cellcom TV.

Social Workers at War, a documentary by Tsipi Karlik, looks at the work of these important but often overlooked professionals since the outbreak of the war, where they functioned as mental-health first responders. It will be shown on Cellcom TV.

Filmmaker Yahav Winner was killed in Kfar Aza on October 7 while saving the lives of his wife and child. His last film, The Boy, which is set on a kibbutz and examines questions of coexistence, will be shown on Cellcom TV.

The Golani brigade has lost over 80 of its members since the war started. Casualty Officer Golani is a film that follows Shir Nadel, the officer in charge of helping families of fallen and wounded soldiers. It will be shown on Yes Docu and Yes VOD.

There will be a number of films shown on Cellcom TV, including Joseph Cedar’s Beaufort, an Oscar-nominated drama from 2007 about soldiers stationed at an outpost in Lebanon; Samuel Maoz’s Lebanon, about a tank crew in the first Lebanon War; and Eytan Fox’s Yossi & Jagger, a movie about a romance between soldiers stationed in southern Lebanon.

ON INDEPENDENCE DAY, the Jerusalem Cinematheque is showing Avi Nesher’s The Troupe (aka Ha Lahaka), the classic film about the rivalries and romances among an army entertainment troupe that was made 46 years ago (and which will also be shown on Israeli movie channel on Yes). 

The screening will feature a sing-along of the movie’s great soundtrack, which includes such songs as “Song of Peace” and “Carnival in the Nahal,” and there will also be a quiz on the movie.

Nesher is a filmmaker who has made a number of films that are appropriate for viewing on Independence Day in that they show the diversity and complexity of life in Israel and express great affection for it. 

Turn Left at the End of the World is about the friendship between girls from Indian and Moroccan families in a Negev town in the 60s – and would be a good movie to see for anyone who thinks that all Israelis are white.

It will be shown on Cellcom TV and the Israeli movie channel on Yes. Image of Victory, his inspiring movie about soldiers and young immigrants defending a kibbutz on the Egyptian border during the War of Independence, will be shown on the Yes movie channel on Independence Day and is also available on Netflix.

After watching the sad stories on Remembrance Day, you might want to see movies that feature young Israeli people full of spirit, such as Nesher’s Dizengoff 99, about friends sharing an apartment in Tel Aviv, as well as Talya Lavie’s Zero Motivation, about a female soldier on a base in the Negev with a magnificent obsession to get transferred to Tel Aviv, where she can get iced lattes at lunchtime.

Amit Ulman’s movie The City, a rap opera that tells a funny, satirical story of a detective in Tel Aviv, will also be shown on Yes on Independence Day. This very original film demonstrates the talent and vitality of the young generation of Israeli filmmakers.

The popular sitcom Checkout, about the lives of the supermarket staff and customers, will feature a special episode on Kan 11 on May 14 for Independence Day, in which the characters find some difficulties in celebrating the holiday.