LOS ANGELES — California has apologized for allowing someone in the US state to register a license plate mocking the October 7 attacks on Israel.
The apology comes after activist group StopAntisemitism flagged a Tesla Cybertruck seen around Los Angeles sporting a plate that read “LOLOCT7,” which it said celebrated “terrorism against the Jewish people.”
LOL is a common abbreviation for “laughing out loud.”
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said on social media on Thursday that it would be acting to rescind the plate, which fell foul of its own rules.
“This is unacceptable and disturbing,” the agency wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“The DMV is taking swift action to recall these shocking plates, and we will immediately strengthen our internal review process to ensure such an egregious oversight never happens again.
StopAntisemitism is appalled by the sickening display on a Cyber Truck plate in California, celebrating terrorism against the Jewish people. pic.twitter.com/n6e0d07sWY
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 12, 2024
“We sincerely apologize that these personalized plates were not properly rejected during our review process.”
There are over 30 million vehicles in California, the vast majority of which have regular license plates.
But the DMV allows drivers — for an extra fee — to personalize plates, provided the resulting message does not “carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency,” according to its website.
Examples of banned plates include swear words, and racially or ethnically degrading terms.
Watch Docu Nation Season 2: Resilience
when you join the ToI Community
Support The Times of Israel’s independent journalism and receive access to our documentary series, Docu Nation: Resilience, premiering December 12.
In this season of Docu Nation, you can stream eight outstanding Israeli documentaries with English subtitles and then join a live online discussion with the filmmakers. The selected films show how resilience, hope, and growth can emerge from crisis.
When you watch Docu Nation, you’re also supporting Israeli creators at a time when it’s increasingly difficult for them to share their work globally.
To learn more about Docu Nation: Resilience, click here.
Support ToI and get Docu Nation
Support ToI and get Docu Nation
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You’re a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel eleven years ago – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘272776440645465’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
