In the best of times, the eerie transition from Remembrance Day – the sad music, the half-mast flags, the national mourning – into the jubilation of Independence Day is jarring. This year, the first since October 7 changed Israel forever, it was unfathomable.
No fireworks, no raucous parties in the parks with the country’s top talent belting out the hits, and no kids attacking each other with string spray.
According to most reports, the streets were generally extremely quiet for Independence Day, as many of the populace preferred to stay close to home and hunker down with their families and friends for more intimate commemorations.
Dueling ceremonies touted the country’s irrefutable achievements and its citizens’ bravery (the official state-sponsored events) on the one hand, and on the other hand, spotlighted the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and the inability to celebrate amid a bloody war that has seen thousands of soldiers killed or wounded (the alternative grassroots events).
The different realities Israel encounters
Looking on a split screen, one could ask which was the real Israel at 76? They both reflect a reality of where the country is at this most precarious moment in its short life. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that they’re both accurate and reflect the pain, uncertainty, and sadness that exemplified this year’s Remembrance and Independence Days, as well as the pride in the accomplishments of the world’s only Jewish state.
We’re a broken, damaged country, filled with questions about its government and institutions that enabled October 7 to take place or why it did not succeed in the last seven months of the war to defeat Hamas or bring the more than 130 hostages or their remains back home.Yet, taking a step back, it’s undeniable that Israel's last 76 years are a huge success story – a triumph of human spirit unmatched in recent history.
That doesn’t help fill the agonizing void and anguish the country felt this week, however. The 24 hours of Remembrance Day, filled with heart-wrenching stories of the oh-so-fresh deaths of so many people who were so full of life and had so much to offer, was too much to bear.
But, bear it we do - because there’s no alternative. This year’s Independence Day, rather than a celebration, was more like a reminder that yes, no matter how bleak things may seem right now, we’re still here and what we’ve built and cherish is still worth fighting for.
Every day in Israel is Remembrance and Independence Day. We can never forget the sacrifices made by so many to establish the country and bring it to the great heights it achieved in its first 76 years. At the same time, we can never take its independence for granted.
Rather than the usual over-the-top merriment, the last 24 hours offered a bear hug to people desperately in need of it. We’re a long way from starting a healing process – one that will take years to complete, if ever.
That will only begin once the hostages are freed, Hamas is rendered not to be a formidable threat to Israel’s security any longer, our soldiers stop dying in the Gaza battlefield, and the residents of the North feel safe enough to return to their homes. And, of course, all of that is bracketed by the prime minister and the heads of the country’s security apparatus resigning for their roles in not preventing October 7.
Until that time, Israelis need to ask themselves: Is what unifies us more powerful than what separates us? If the answer is yes, then there’s hope that Israel’s 77th Independence Day will be more joyous than the one that just sunk under the exhaustion of war and sorrow.