The Israeli national flag has appeared as part of the motif on celebratory and definitive stamps of the country since 1949, followed by issue in 1966, 1969, 1974, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2015, all of which had been shown in two earlier posts to this blog – May and June 2023.
This July post continues with the same flags theme, beginning with a 2016 issue.
That year, a 2.30 NIS stamp (below) was issued on 13 September to honour casualties of war and terror. The first day cover (not shown here) bore words from the poem ‘Creed’ by Shaul Tchernichovsky (1875-1943).
Earlier, in July 2014, the Israeli government announced that the Hebrew calendar date 17 Kislev would be recognized as the annual Casualties of War and Terror Appreciation Day..
Designed by Ronen Goldberg and issued on 4 April 2017, a 2.40 NIS stamp (shown above) celebrated 50 years of settling in the Golan, the Jordan Valley, and in Judea and Samaria. The stamp was illustrated with an olive branch against the background of a group of youths at the Sebastia train station (Ottoman period) in the Nablus Governorate of modern Palestine. The tab was illustrated with the ruins of the Herodian in the Bethlehem Governorate.
Issued on 9 April 2018 with a design by Tel Hoover, this 5 NIS stamp (above) marked the 70th anniversary of Israeli independence. Both the stamp and the tab were illustrated with nods to Israeli achievement in science, technology, communication, satellites, irrigation, agriculture, and media, and also to the wellbeing of the country’s citizens and their leisure time. An accompanying souvenir leaf (below) bearing the stamp showed motifs in the same vein
Meir Eshel was the designer of the 4.10 NIS stamp (below) issued on 4 February 2020. This stamp marked the centennial of Keren Hayesod / United Israel Appeal, UIA.
Keren Hayesod is the world’s leading fundraising organization for the people of Israel. The organization strengthens the connection between Israelis and Jewish communities around the world, and helps to express their commitment by contributing funds to activities, projects and enterprises in the country.
Designed by Osnat Eshel and issued on 30 November 2021, this 11.70 NIS stamp (below) celebrated all those involved in the fight against Covid-19.
The SARS-CoV-2 corona virus was discovered in China in December 2019 and in February 2020, it spread quickly throughout the world with Israel recording its first confirmed case on 21 February 2020.
The Israeli flag forms a face mask over a heart shape cupped in hands protected by latex protective gloves. The tab shows the Covid-19 virus in magnification.
The definitive stamp featuring the Israeli flag, issued on 21 November 2010, was integral to a sheet of twelve (above) coming out on 1 March 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of the killing of eleven Israeli sportsmen, judge, referee, and coaches at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich in September 1972 – a hostage crisis.
The dead were: Moshe Weinberg, wrestling coach; Yossef Romano, weightlifter; Ze’ev Friedman, weightlifter; David Berger, weightlifter; Yakov Springer, weightlifting judge; Eliezer Halfin, wrestler; Yossef Gutfreund, wrestling judge; Kehat Shorr, shooting coach; Mark Slavin, wrestler; Andre Spitzer, fencing coach; and Amitzur Shapira, track coach.
Similarly, a sheet of nine stamps, again featuring the flag definitive stamp, was issued on 18 October 2022 to mark 50 years of military/IDF ombudsmen.
Designed by D. Ben Hador and issued on 15 February 2022, this 11.70 NIS stamp (above) celebrated the centennial of the Farmers’ Federation of Israel.
Founded in 1922, the Federation was the first settlement movement established in the country (then under British Mandate), and today it unites thousands of private farmers from agricultural communities across modern Israel.
Th Federation founded the Pardes Hanna Agricultural High School, Pardes Hanna-Karkur, in the Haifa District, in 1935, and the People’s Medical Fund (Kupat Holim Ammamit), and also a newsletter. In the 1970s, it worked to establish new agricultural colonies including Karmei Yosef, Gilon, Vered Hagalil, Kadita, and Kidmat Tzvi.
The stamp is illustrated with a tablet screen showing icons symbolizing the different work of a farmer – work that combines traditional manual labour with modern technology. Represented on the screen are: local produce, climate monitoring, agricultural drones, a tractor, fruit and vegetables, and water reclamation. The tab shows the Federation logo and motto: ‘If there is agriculture here – the Homeland is here’.
Osnat Eshel was again the designer of the 7.40 NIS stamp issued on 28 June 2022 to celebrate Christians who stand for Israel.
Christians have seen in Israel a faithful ally in the modern world with whom common values are shared: faith and a common Judeo-Christian heritage, love of freedom, and the belief that freedom is best secured through a democratic political system. And… perhaps because some Christians see their support as atonement for millennia of Jewish persecution at their hands… maybe facing up to the most shameful chapters of Christian history and putting things right.
The stamp shows Christian and Jewish hands joined together against the background of the Israeli flag. The tab inscription reads: ‘I will bless those who bless you’ (Genesis 12:3).
In the preparation of this blog the resources of the following were used: (1) the website of the Israel Philatelic Federation
If you have enjoyed reading this month’s blog, you may also want to check out: I. The Israeli flag on the country’s stamps, and II. The Israeli flag on the country’s stamps
Israeli postage stamps בולי דואר ישראליים 