President Isaac Herzog reviews IDF Honor Guard on Israel’s Independence Day (Photo: Tzipi Bini GPO)
Israel on Wednesday is celebrating its 75th year as an independent nation. The holiday’s events began Tuesday night with a special ceremony held at the Mount Herzl National Military Cemetery in Jerusalem marking the transition from the national Memorial Day honoring the nation’s fallen to the holiday.
And Tuesday night Israelis took to the streets and partied all night long, well at least the younger ones and those with young constitution did anyway.
Fireworks could be seen all over the country and it was certainly night a night for going to bed early. Nose from music and crowds blasted through the night, the one night of the year that police do not shut everything down at around 11 PM, which they do even on Purim. And unlike Purim, Wednesday is the one national holiday in Israel when everyone has the day off from work, but, unlike religious holidays, all places of entertainment are open and orthodox Jews can enjoy the day off in the same way as everybody else.
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On Wednesday the beaches will be filled, the streets in the city centers will be packed by midday with revelers, and bars and restaurants will see a spike in business. And if you work in the entertainment industry – at a bar, night club, restaurant, movie theater, etc. – and your boss needed you to come in on Independence Day, taking away your day off, at least by law you must get paid double your regular hourly wage.
Also, Wednesday morning the country was treated to dramatic and exciting flyovers by IAF jets above Israel’s cities and beeches. So, even the air force pilots who needed to be on duty protecting Israel were still able to take part in the festivities.
On Wednesday afternoon, all local urban parks and all of the national parks throughout Israel will be filled with Israelis enjoying the country’s national pastime: making outdoor barbecues and eating a lot of meat. And this year the weather is great for it.
President of Israel Isaac Herzog issued a special address to the world Jewish community in honor of Israel’s 75th Independence Day.
“As Israel reaches a historic milestone—75 years of independence!—we have the opportunity to pause and reflect with gratitude on the miracle that is our Jewish and democratic state,” he said.
President Herzog referenced Israel’s ongoing political turmoil as the nation is badly divided over the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform plan. The reform would effectively end judicial review in Israel, something the political opposition charges will harm Israel’s democracy.
“Of course, this time of celebration comes at a moment of reckoning, what we call in Hebrew cheshbon nefesh, for the State of Israel and the Jewish People at large,” said Herzog. “Like many democratic societies around the world, our collective, within Israel and between Israel and our global Jewish communities, has been facing real questions about who we are, and what we would wish for our beloved country.”
“Of course, we must not forget that asking ourselves questions about our identity and our joint purpose is a gift. Having a country to shape together, to share together, to argue over, even, was a distant dream not long ago. And it is a blessing that we should not take for granted.”
President Herzog went on to talk about how much Israelis built up the country over these past 75 years, and just how precious it is to so many.
So, in spite of the political divisions and what Herzog referred to as “these turbulent times,” he highlighted the “deep caring of millions of people inside Israel and beyond it, to whom our country profoundly matters.”
“And it is just that quality of deep caring that has helped our people survive and thrive for millennia,” he added.
“Dear friends, let us come together at this meaningful moment to celebrate everything we have built together and everything that we have yet to build. May we all have a wonderful Independence Day for the State of Israel! Best wishes to you all from the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. Yom Ha’atzmaut Sameach, friends!”
