Report: Police Decline Nova Survivors’ Party Permit, Citing Egyptian Military Buildup

The Purim party was scheduled to take place some nine miles from the border with Egypt over the weekend.

By JNS

The Israel Police has refused to grant permission for a nature party scheduled to take place in the Negev desert over the weekend, citing security concerns including Egypt’s military buildup on the border, according to widespread reports in Hebrew media on Tuesday.

The Purim party, organized by the producers of the Oct. 7, 2023, Nova Festival where Hamas terrorists killed 364 people, was scheduled to take place some nine miles from the Egyptian border.

According to the organizers, 10 of the people taken captive during the Oct. 7 massacre and subsequently freed were expected to attend the event, as were hundreds of other survivors and relatives of murdered victims.

In a missive to organizers cited by Hebrew media, the commander of the Israel Police’s Segev Shalom station, Chief Supt. Ronen Amran, wrote, “It should be taken into account that the designated location for the Purim event is 15 kilometers from the border with Egypt, which has recently been arming itself and has deployed many tanks to the Sinai Desert.”

Additional security concerns listed by Amran reportedly included the Islamic Ramadan holiday, the faltering ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and organizers’ initial failure to ask the IDF for permission.

The organizers have filed a petition in the Beersheva District Court, demanding that they be allowed to proceed despite the police denial.

The petition claims the event intends “to serve as a central component in the rehabilitation process of the survivors of the Nova Festival massacre and to be part of strengthening the Israeli home front.”

According to the data provided by the company to the court, “so far, approximately 2,000 tickets have been purchased at a cost of hundreds of thousands of shekels.” It added, “Some 1,000 of those who bought tickets are released hostages, bereaved families and Oct. 7 survivors.”

In a statement to JNS on Wednesday, the Israel Police emphasized that it “remains responsible for the security of the event participants, and all the actions and requirements are aimed at preventing, God forbid, a disaster, as well as ensuring the security and safety of the public.”

The Israeli Police “carries out a situational assessment and approvals for events that require a license and takes into account all safety measures, while performing all necessary actions to ensure the security and safety of the attendees.”

It added: “As part of the situational assessments and intelligence [assessments], police examine all the variables that may affect the nature of the event, or whether it will take place at all.”

Hamas terrorists slaughtered 364 people—nearly a third of the 1,200 people killed during the massacre—at the Oct. 7 Nova Festival, which was attended by 3,500 people. Many more were wounded, and 40 were taken captive. There were widespread reports of rape and sex crimes.

Satellite images indicating changes in Egyptian army deployment in the Sinai Peninsula have reportedly led security coordinators in Israeli border towns to paint a worrying picture of recent developments.

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter accused Egypt on Jan. 28 of “very serious” violations of its 45-year-old peace treaty with the Jewish state, saying Jerusalem would discuss the issue “very soon.”

Egypt has constructed military bases in Sinai “that can only be used for offensive operations, for offensive weapons—that’s a clear violation,” Leiter said in his first meeting with American Jewish organizations.

Egypt’s breach “is an issue that is going to come to the fore because it’s not tolerable,” the Israeli diplomatic envoy explained. “For a long time, it’s been shunted aside, and this continues. This is going to be an issue that we’re going to put on the table very soon and very emphatically.”

A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in the United States did not immediately respond to a JNS request for comment on Wednesday.

Sources familiar with the matter told Israel Hayom late last month that Egyptian officials have proposed to enter into U.S. mediation in an attempt to reduce growing tensions between Jerusalem and Cairo.

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