Netanya Municipality removes memorial bench for October 7 victims

The Netanya municipality recently removed a memorial bench placed at a local beach in memory of Matan Eckstein, a surfer and surf instructor from the town murdered in the incident. Nova Music Festival on October 7.

The municipality claimed the bench had been installed without permission near a cliff and without being properly anchored, posing a risk to the public, and was therefore moved to a municipal warehouse. However, Eckstein’s friends documented the abandoned bench elsewhere on the beach and asked the grieving father to retrieve it.

Eckstein’s mother, Miri, told Ynet: “We are shocked and hurt. No one has contacted us. The bench was thrown onto the beach and my husband Erez went to retrieve it after people from the surf club informed us and kept it safe until he could retrieve it.”

Eckstein, who was 23 at the time of his death, lived in Even Yehuda. His father built the bench, which reads, “You will always be my sun. Matan Eckstein – a child of the sea who was murdered in Kibbutz Re’im on October 7.” Friends, family, surfers and passersby often came to the bench after it was installed.

The mother also addressed the safety issue of the bench, saying: “We have no problem placing it in the safest way possible, but no one has contacted us about it. Matan grew up on this beach and taught children to surf. It’s a viewpoint where people come to watch the sunset over the sea. It was so beautiful to see the crowds gathering there.

“The bench was a meeting place and we were moved to receive photos and see the bench in use. Surfers and the public on the beach were shocked and frustrated by the removal of the bench,” she added.

Disgruntled people took to social media to protest the decision, including user Elia Cohen, who wrote on his Facebook account: “We never exchanged more than a few words. We didn’t know each other personally, but it broke my heart to see your bench thrown away as if it had no value… I expect my municipality to put the bench back in its place, or find another place for it.”

The post received many comments, including: “I was ashamed when I saw” and “This bench gives strength to the family.” Why act without thinking? Say “sorry, we made a mistake” and put it back. »

The Netanya Municipality said in a statement: “The municipality shares the sadness of all the families who have lost their loved ones since October 7. The manner of commemorating the dead in the city is done with the utmost sensitivity and with respect and cooperation with the families.”

“In this case, the bench was placed in a dangerous public space, on the edge of a cliff, without being properly anchored to the ground, which endangered its users and in a way that did not make it clear that it was a memorial. If a request for commemoration were to be received by the municipality, it would be studied with the required sensitivity and respect, as has been done so far,” the statement added.