Israel celebrates 66th birthday
Israel’s Independence Day had a feminist twist this year, with an all-women line-up chosen to light the beacons at the national celebration.
Culture Minister Limor Livnat chose the theme “Time for Women” for the formal part of Israel’s 66th birthday – which took place on Monday night and Tuesday – saying that it is important to recognise the contribution of women to Israeli life. The women selected have each made “significant contribution to the advancement of the country and Israeli society”, Livnat said.
They came from a wide range of backgrounds, including the Arab entrepreneur Hindia Suleiman, Israel’s Ethiopian-born ambassador to Ethiopia Belaynesh Zevadia, and Charedi educator Adina Bar-Shalom, daughter of the revered Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who died last year. The other torch-lighters included high-tech pioneer Maxine Fassberg, CEO of Intel Israel, and Major General Orna Barbivai, the Israeli military’s first woman to reach that rank.
Millions of Israelis headed to beaches, forests and parks to hold traditional Independence Day barbecues, tens of thousands watched a military flyover, and President Shimon Peres hosted a singsong to mark the occasion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defence Moshe Yaalon and military Chief of Staff Benny Gantz each sang a song.
Later in the day, Peres was in a more serious mood, for a meeting with foreign diplomats during which he discussed the threat posed by the Hamas regime in Gaza. “Gaza is today the greatest obstacle to an agreement,” he said to the diplomats. “Why do they need 10,000 missiles? You have to say to the authorities in Gaza, decide if you want peace and prosperity or not. You must say no-one will finance your missiles, your tunnels or your ideology.”
Regarding the recent unity pact between the Palestinian Authority, Peres said: “We are not against unity if they accept the conditions necessary to be united,” referring to the international community’s demand that Hamas renounce violence, recognise Israel, and agree to be bound by existing Israeli-Palestinian agreements.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman claimed that as a result of the Palestinian unity pact, “Hamas is on its way to controlling the whole Palestinian Authority.”
He claimed to the foreign diplomats that “it is clear that Hamas will win convincingly” when Palestinian elections are held, but said that Israel will prevent the West Bank “from becoming the new Gaza”. He added: “Israel seeks peace, Israel wants an agreement, but we will not be fools.”
Netanyahu broke from his habit of taking every opportunity to discuss the Iranian threat, and spoke only of Israel’s achievements in his Independence Day address.
“After 2000 years of exile we returned to our historic homeland to re-establish our independence and sovereignty,” he said. “Yet we didn’t only create a state.
“We have ingathered into our homeland a people that had been scattered around the globe. We have defended ourselves against the attacks of hostile neighbours, overcoming threats faced by no other country.
“We have built a vibrant democracy in which freedom is sacrosanct, guaranteeing equality under the law and the rights of every citizen. We have created a robust economy, a global technological superpower. We have signed peace treaties with two of our Arab neighbours, while we quietly talk with many more.”
As most of Israel rejoiced, one of the country’s leading think tanks released data which indicates that Independence Day could become celebrated less universally over the coming decades. A survey by the Israel Democracy Institute found that the younger Israelis are, the less likely they are to consider Independence Day a holiday.
The poll found that while around 95 per cent of Israeli Jews born before the state was established or in its first 21 years consider the day a holiday, younger Israeli Jews are less agreed on this.
For the 35 to 44 age group the figure dropped to 87 per cent, for 25 to 34-year-olds it dropped further to 77 per cent, and among 18 to 24-year-olds the figure was 69 per cent.
NATHAN JEFFAY
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