IN APRIL 2018 ISRAELIS WILL CELEBRATE THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
On 19 April 2018 – or the fifth day of the month of Iyar – Israel will celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, or Independence Day, the day that the provisional government read and signed the Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv on 14 May 1948.
Yom Ha’atzmaut is a holiday, and the date on which it falls is determined by the Hebrew calendar and so it changes every year. The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar and so it includes months that are lunar months but years based on solar years. 19 April 2018 will see celebrations across Israel marking the 70th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and because of the calendar Independence Day will fall in the month of May in 2019.
Independence Day is always preceded by Israel’s Memorial Day, known as Yom Hazikaron.
The two holidays are linked because Israel believes the existence of Israel is due to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for independence.
The switch from Yom Hazikaron to Yom Ha’atzmaut takes place just a few minutes after sundown.
Independence Day marks the moment that the provisional government read and signed the Declaration of Independence in 1948. Jewish people had fled from Europe as the Holocaust was unleashed during the 1930s and 1940s. Many migrated to the British Mandate of Palestine where there was a long-established Jewish population.
After the Second World War, many European Jews had become displaced, unable to return to their homeland, and they hoped to help in the creation of a Jewish state by migrating to the British territory.
Unwilling to anger the Arab population in the Mandate territory, the British state refused to agree to mass migration. There had been outbreaks of inter-communal violence in Palestine over some years, but during the 1940s violence grew between the Arabs, Jews and the British until the United Nations (UN) stepped in to determine the matter.
In 1947, the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) proposed ending British rule and separating the area into two states – one Jewish and one Arab with an internationally controlled area around Jerusalem.
The Jewish leaders accepted the plan, but the Arabs opposed it, and after the UN voted to partition the area in November 1947, civil war broke out between the Arabs and Jews. When the independence of the State of Israel was formally declared in May 1948, war broke out between the new state and its Arab neighbours.
On 25 May 1948, a few days after independence was declared, and during the ensuing war and the battle for the Old City of Jerusalem, the Hurva Synagogue was destroyed by Jordan’s Arab Legion. In 1993 a postage stamp featuring the Hurva Synagogue was issued for the 45th Anniversary of Independence. The tab of the stamp showed an arch of the original synagogue which was restored as a reminder that ‘one day the Hurva will be built once again’. The new Hurva Synagogue opened in March 2010.
It is expected that the 70th Anniversary, and the holiday, will be marred by continuing violence in Gaza which had broken out in late-March. Hamas leaders and activists had urged the population to demonstrate at the border with Israel, and a mass walk-through has been planned. It is expected that, throughout the 2018 holiday period, the Israeli security and defence forces will be on high alert, particularly on the border with Gaza.
Traditionally, Independence Day in Israel has been marked by the issue of commemorative stamps – the first in 1949 – and these have traditionally featured the flag of the country or other national symbols and motifs, battle sites, flowers or floral motifs, numerals defining the number of years of independence, motifs expressing scientific achievements, children, architectural themes, and military themes.
Yom Ha’atzmaut starts just after sundown on Memorial Day when the Israeli flag is fully raised from the half-mast position of the Memorial Day holiday. The President of Israel congratulates the citizens, and there is a military parade with the participating forces all carrying the flags of their respective branches.
The evening parade is followed by the lighting of a torch, known as hadlakat masuot, marking the achievements of Israel. In large cities, crowds gather to watch public programmes. Israeli folk dances or traditional songs are performed in the streets. Displays of the technological achievements of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are a common of the holiday.
The holiday is concluded with the awarding of the Israel Prize which recognises an individual who has provided unique contributions to the country’s culture, science, arts and humanities.
The Prize was first awarded in 1953 and its recipients have included: archaeologist, politician, and IDF Chief-of-Staff, Yigael Yadin, for his doctoral thesis on the translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls; Scottish-born ophthalmologist, Isaac Michaelson, who worked to assist developing countries in the field of ophthalmology; molecular biologist and cancer researcher, Leo Sachs, whose research formed the basis for amniocentesis, the widely used prenatal diagnosis of human diseases, and who discovered and identified a family of proteins that plays a key role in controlling normal blood cell development; and, Golda Meir, teacher, kibbutznik, stateswoman, politician, and Prime Minister of Israel.
Other Israel prize winners have been: Teddy Kollek, Mayor of Jerusalem; Israel Tal, IDF General who led the development of the ‘Merkava’ tank; Amos Oz, writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual; the poet, Israel Pinkas; Chaim Topol, or Topol, best known for his performance in Fiddler on the Roof; and, Edit Doron, for her work on general linguistics and Hebrew.
Organisations which have received the Israel Prize have included: Bezalel Academy of Art and Design; Habima Theatre; the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; the IDF; Yad Vashem; Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel; the Jewish National Fund; and, the Jewish Agency.
Was the 70th anniversary going to be different from the traditional ones? In January 2018, at a ceremony at the Yad Lashiryon memorial in Latrun, the Israeli Culture and Sport Minister, Miri Regev, detailed the country’s plans to celebrate the 70th anniversary. Regev, a former Brigadier-general in the IDF, announced that there would be ’70 Hours of Israeli Celebrations’ in events tailored for both young and old, veterans, families, and for Jews around the world.
As ever, Independence Day will begin with a torch-lighting ceremony (hadlakat masuot), and events over three days will include song, fireworks, a 70 km party from Tiberias to Eilat, folk-dancing, and a parade of lights illustrating Israel’s success and innovation. The closing ceremony will honour dignitaries both living and dead.
The official logo for the 70th anniversary features the number 70, a Star of David in modern design which draws a historical continuum from King David’s days and modern Israeli sovereignty, and ‘Israel’ as written by a scribe in a Torah scroll, expressing the bond between the modern State of Israel and ancient nationalism… between 2018 and pre-history… between spiritual Jerusalem and secular Jerusalem.
The theme for the 70th anniversary is to be ‘Heritage of Innovation’, drawing on Israeli success as a ‘start-up nation’, its cutting-edge technology, and its trailblazing research, medicine and agriculture. The theme has been applied to the design of the postage stamp issued to mark the anniversary.
Happy Independence Day, Israel ! ! יום עצמאות שמח
A second blog-post on the Independence Day theme will come along next month… in May 2018!
Israeli postage stamps בולי דואר ישראליים 