Vice President JD Vance marked the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre on Wednesday with a brief message remembering the Jews and Americans murdered in the terrorist assault on Israel and invoking the traditional Jewish expression honoring the deceased.

Vance posted the message on his official X account Wednesday afternoon, three years after Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel, attacking communities, military installations and the Nova music festival.

“Three years ago over 1,000 Jews (including 49 Americans) were brutally murdered in Israel in one of the worst Islamic terrorist attacks of our lives. May their memory be a blessing.”

The message was notably focused exclusively on the victims of the Hamas attack. Vance did not use the anniversary statement to criticize Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza or to address Palestinian casualties.

The vice president’s statement came as Israel and Jewish communities around the world held memorial ceremonies for the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, assault, in which Hamas-led terrorists murdered approximately 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages into Gaza. Memorial events in Israel began at 6:29 a.m., the time the attack began three years earlier.

Vance’s reference to the American victims highlighted the significant U.S. toll from the attack. Americans were among those murdered and kidnapped during the Hamas invasion, making Oct. 7 not only the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust but also a terrorist attack that directly claimed American lives.

The statement comes amid considerable attention to how American political leaders are marking the anniversary. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned the Hamas massacre in his own statement Wednesday but also called the devastation in Gaza “reprehensible” and demanded a dramatic change in American policy that would include the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani went further, using his Oct. 7 statement to accuse the Israeli government of an “ongoing genocide” in Gaza and denounce what he called “occupation and apartheid.” Mamdani’s remarks drew criticism from several Democratic members of Congress as well as Jewish organizations and Republican officials.

Vance’s message also comes against the backdrop of an evolving relationship between the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government. In recent months, the vice president has emphasized that while Israel remains an important American partner, the United States will pursue its own interests and will not necessarily agree with the Israeli government on every issue.

“Israel has been an important partner when it comes to military technology, when it comes to intelligence sharing, but also sometimes the United States doesn’t always agree with Israel,” Vance said last month.

Vance has nevertheless consistently placed responsibility for the Gaza war’s origins on Hamas. Discussing the conflict in October 2025, he stressed that the fighting began with the terrorist assault on Israel and said the Trump administration remained focused on eliminating the terrorist threat while addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza.

His position on Oct. 7 itself has also remained consistent. On the first anniversary of the massacre in 2024, when he was President Trump’s running mate, Vance attended a memorial gathering on the National Mall in Washington and declared that the attack would not be forgotten.

“My friends, I know I speak for all of us and saying we will never forget October the 7th. We’re going to reject anti-Semitism in our schools, rejected in our foreign policy. And if we do this the right way, we’re going to reject it in the ballot box on November the 5th, 2024.”

At that same 2024 gathering, Vance said Israel had the right to defeat the terrorist organization responsible for the massacre.

“We want to give Israel the right and the ability to finish what Hamas started. Israel didn’t start this. Hamas did. But Israel is going to finish it.”

{Matzav.com}