As Israel Battles on All Fronts, This Year’s Independence Day Celebrations Will Be Muted

Even as it is besieged on all sides, betrayed by allies, and battling internally, Israel on Monday night will mark its 76th birthday. On independence day 2024, gloomy Israelis are nevertheless as patriotic as ever. The annual anniversary of Israel’s May 15, 1948, declaration of independence is marked on its Hebrew calendar in two consecutive days. The first, commemorating those who were killed in battle, is marked with a nationwide siren call during which all stand still, remembering the fallen. As the sun sets, independence celebrations and fireworks erupt. This year, that deeply Jewish combination of solemnity and joy is being undermined by the widespread agony in the country, where there is very little apparent cause for celebration. On Friday, the Israel Defense Force released the names of four soldiers killed in northern Gaza, adding to the 711 military personnel who have fallen since October 7, and the 822 civilians killed on that day and in follow-up terrorist acts.As the war against Hamas is reignited with the intensified battle over Rafah, these numbers — which are very personal to Israelis — are likely to grow before Monday’s remembrance rites and that night’s start of independence day. This year’s fireworks have been called off, for fear they’d startle the many Israelis suffering from post-October 7 PTSD.The country is torn over how the war is being conducted, with polls indicating Israelis mostly mistrust the political leadership. Protests are ballooning as some accuse the government of failing to make the necessary concessions to release hostages in Gaza, while others are angered by the feeling there are too many concessions, and the belief that they stop the IDF from winning the war on Hamas. Traditionally, one of independence day’s central events is the nationally televised beacon lighting at Jerusalem, where notable Israelis are honored. This year, no dignitaries will be in attendance as life-savers and October 7 heroes light the torches. Instead, only 132 empty chairs will witness the event, representing the hostages that remain in Gaza dungeons or who have died before being returned. Months before May 15, 1948, when Prime Minister Ben Gurion declared independence, the newly founded United Nations conducted a crucial vote. On November 29, 1947, the 57-member General Assembly approved by a two-thirds majority a plan to partition British-mandate Palestine and create Arab and Jewish states there. As the dream of re-establishing sovereignty in their ancient land neared, Jews celebrated on Tel Aviv’s streets. Arab countries that opposed the UN plan went to war in an attempt to erase all Jewish presence in the country. Now, though, they assert that Israel’s founding, which they call Nakba, or catastrophe, was designed to annihilate the Arabs of Palestine. The Palestinian UN observer, Riyad Mansour, told the General Assembly on Friday that Israel is now committing genocide in Gaza. “Sixty-seven years after the Nakba, they are set to finish the job,” he said in a speech during a far less consequential Assembly vote than the one in 1947. This time, the Assembly agreed to upgrade the quasi-state of Palestine’s participation in UN activities.The resolution was approved by 143 of the current 193 UN members. Only nine countries opposed it, including Israel and America. The text was amended to avoid American defunding of the UN, and therefore fell short of recommending full Palestinian membership. Yet, Israelis were jarred by the overwhelming support, widely seen as rewarding Hamas’s October 7 bloodletting. Even more jarring to Israelis and their supporters is President Biden’s widely advertised decision to deny arms to Israel. The move, which appears largely motivated by the president’s electoral calculations, is perceived around the world as a walk back from America’s traditional commitment to Israel’s security.With Washington endlessly bickering over the IDF’s methods and attempting to micromanage the war, Israelis fear their independence is being undermined. At the same time, their sovereign territory is being eroded as well. Tens of thousands have been living in hotels for more than seven months, forced out of their homes in the country’s south and north after being targeted by Hamas and Hezbollah, respectively. On a brighter note, a 20-year-old singer who represents Israel in the Eurovision song contest, Eden Golan, is seen by bettors across the continent as a top favorite to win the schlock-fest’s final stage, on Saturday. Israelis are hoping her victory would be the best comeuppance for the throng of haters — including a keffiyeh-clad woman formerly known only as a climate activist, Greta Thunberg — who for days have besieged Ms. Golan’s hotel in Europe’s most antisemitic city: Malmo, Sweden. Winning a cheesy song-and-dance show may be small potatoes compared to Israel’s many other challenges, yet it reminds many Israelis that they are extremely proud of their country and its unique culture, its unparalleled ability to overcome adversity, and, against all odds, its independence.Correction: Israel is celebrating its 76th anniversary this year. An earlier version misstated the number.

As Israel Battles on All Fronts, This Year’s Independence Day Celebrations Will Be Muted

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