Israel's MKs watch IDF's October 7 documentary - "Those were scenes I'll carry with me until my last day."

'I cannot speak': Israel's MKs watch IDF's October 7 documentary

ARIELLA MARSDEN

The Knesset screened the IDF's uncensored October 7 documentary for MKs on Wednesday.

The movie, which is made up of footage taken from killed and captured terrorists, was previously screened for Israeli and foreign journalists to show them the horrors of Hamas's attack.

The MKs who watched the footage on Wednesday were heavily affected by it with Likud MK Keti Shitrit leaving the auditorium sobbing a few minutes after the documentary began. MK Tsega Melaku reportedly fainted after the screening and was taken to the Knesset's infirmary.

Likud MK Gilat Distel-Atbaryan said the Knesset's doctor was at the entrance to the auditorium offering MKs relaxation medications before they went in to watch the documentary. Three psychologists were also available afterward to help those who watched the documentary cope.

"I held it out in the hall for five minutes and then I ran out sobbing and shaking," said Distel-Atbaryan.

Even with the relaxation pill, which she had accepted, she said the footage gave her a panic attack like she had never experienced before.

Labor MK Gilad Kariv also didn't make it through to the end.

"I couldn't withstand it, and like many of my friends, my heartstrings burst and I had to get out of there," he said. "Those were scenes I'll carry with me until my last day."

Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen came out shaken as well and said that "we need to make it clear that we're going to crush their bones."

Ra'am MKs Mansour Abbas, Walid al-Hawashla, and Iman Khatib-Yassin had not originally signed up to attend the screening but showed up anyway. Abbas walked out in tears.

"It's difficult," he said. "I cannot speak."

"The IDF Spokesperson's Unit's film is an unimaginable horror," said Labor MK Naama Lazimi. "I knew this before, but the footage was unfathomably shocking. "I couldn't stay until the end. I watched the awful horrors and then I saw a photo of a murdered baby. It was so painful and difficult that I had to leave. It will be etched in the depth of my soul for eternity."

She added that the documentary had to be shown to leaders, ambassadors, journalists, and academics around the world to ensure that it never happens again.