Jerusalem, October 8th, 2026 – The European Coalition for Israel was represented on Wednesday at an international memorial event in Jerusalem, hosted by the Friends of Zion Museum, as the world paused to mark the third anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Speaking on a panel during a televised 24-hour global prayer event at the Western Wall, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell recalled the warning of the Italian writer and Holocaust survivor Primo Levi: “It happened, therefore it can happen again.”
“This warning, which refers to the Holocaust, has taken on a new meaning after October 7 because of what happened on that day,” he said. “Whereas the Nazis did everything they could to erase the evidence of their atrocities during the Holocaust, the Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel three years ago did the exact opposite, documenting the most brutal atrocities live on social media. It is truly difficult to believe in the progress of humanity after witnessing not only the pogroms of October 7 but also the rallies in support of the perpetrators on university campuses around the world, which began as early as October 8, while Israelis were still counting their dead.”
Although unable to attend the commemoration of the third anniversary at the European Parliament in Strasbourg earlier in the week, Sandell noted that not even the most prestigious political institutions are any longer immune to this violent form of Jew-hatred, after French MEP Rima Hassan knocked down the Israeli flag at an exhibition inside the Parliament held in memory of the victims of the October 7 massacre.
Yet not everyone is turning against the Jewish people or remaining silent as antisemitism spreads around the world. Speaking at the memorial event in Jerusalem, Sylvan Adams, President of the World Jewish Congress in Israel, thanked the Christian leaders present for their prayers and solidarity with Israel since October 7.
Referring to Psalm 23, he told them that they had walked with Israel through the valley of the shadow of death, and that this would always be remembered. His words were echoed by the Rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovitch, who explained that Judaism does not simply seek an answer to tragedies such as October 7. Instead of asking “why”, it asks “what” can be done to turn the situation around: not merely to curse the darkness, but to light a light.
Ending the memorial on a note of hope, the programme featured Yaniv Hayoun, the Israeli plumber whose heroism on board a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv on 30 September prevented another deadly terrorist attack when he overpowered a jihadist pilot who was trying to take control of the aircraft. Describing what happened in the cockpit that night, he surprised the audience by saying that he was not alone: God was in the cockpit.
Earlier in the day, the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, received a delegation of Christian leaders at the President’s Residence to thank them for their continued support. While identifying with the suffering and mourning connected to October 7, he explained that suffering is part of Jewish history, but that it does not end there. “As you travel around Israel, you will see endless cranes as we continue to build for the future,” he said. “This is a culture of life, not of death.”
The International October 7 Memorial event formed part of the Friends of Zion Ambassadors Summit, which brought some 1,000 Christian pastors and influencers to Jerusalem in an act of solidarity with Israel. According to the conference host and founder of the Friends of Zion Museum, Dr Mike Evans, the 24-hour global prayer event may well have been the largest prayer meeting for Israel ever held. Today the summit continues with a visit and ceremony at the Nova memorial site, only a few kilometres from the Gaza border.
