Written by CNN Interactive Writer Joe Sterling
Reported by CNN Producer Pierre Klochendler in Jerusalem

(Jerusalem) -- Ilana Krielovetzki, 17, immigrated to Israel with her family seven years ago from Russia. Bill Murray, a 56-year-old plumber from Scotland lives on a kibbutz.

Moshe Hever, 70, is retired. His family arrived in Palestine from Yemen in the 1920s. Raphael Nissim Mizrahi, 67, was born in Israel. So was Yael Minzter, 17, a high school student. Ibrahim Azimi, a 40-year-old restaurateur, is from the Arab village of Abu Ghosh.

These are the faces of modern Israel. Jews make up roughly 81 percent of the 5.6 million people there, 35 percent of world Jewry. Muslims make up 14.5 percent of the population, and Christians 2.8 percent -- most of whom are Arabs. The remainder include Druze and others, such as Circassians.

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A culture of diversity

The society -- despite its overwhelming Jewishness -- has become a snapshot of ethnic diversity and a demographic test tube, filled with a jumble of cultures. Over the decades, the land has attracted Jews from around the globe who have fled persecution or who, because of religion and idealism, chose to settle in the land of their ancestors and their spiritual homeland.

It is a nation of farms and cell phones, of soccer and factories, of rich and poor, of communist and capitalist, of rock and classical music.

It is a dynamic melange of immigrant and native-born, of black and white, of Arabs from villages and cities, of modern and traditional, of Jews who can point to their origins from many nations -- Denmark, Ethiopia, India, the United States, Chile, Poland, Morocco, Tunisia, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Iran and Palestine, when the Holy Land was ruled by the Ottomans and by the British.

As the years go by, the immigrants continue to arrive, but more and more Israelis can rightfully refer to themselves as sabras, the Hebrew word for cactus that also means native- born.

Israel's 50th anniversary is an introspective occasion for the citizenry and a good opportunity to ask the man or woman on the street their views of Israel's triumphs and failures and their hopes and fears for the future.

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Israel's greatest achievement? Its existence

Many Israelis, like 25-year-old Orit Shapir and 46-year-old Oded Volk, believe the nation's greatest achievement of the last 50 years is its sheer existence, reflected by its economic growth.

"It develops, despite difficulties," says Shapir, a student who works at a day-care center.

Volk, citing the development of agricultural settlements such as kibbutzim and moshavim, points to the building of a society by people from many countries.

Elad Gabai, a 22-year-old yeshiva student, calls the establishment of Israel "a miracle from God," an event that transformed a people hunted and hounded 100 years ago into strong and self-sufficient citizens -- like other nations of the world.

Now, Gabai says, "We can protect ourselves."

Hever marvels at Israel's Jewish population growth. Zvi Spietzer, 49, who has worked as a concert producer, says: "We want the Jews from the whole entire world to come to Israel to live."

Gil Birger, 32, the general manager of a high-tech firm in Israel, admires the society's industrial and economic achievements.

So does Noam Guberman, 20, who serves in the Israeli army. Guberman's army comrade, Yitzhak Bar-Gad, 18, admires the diplomatic progress made toward peace. Minzter, who will enter the army next year, shares the same optimism and is looking forward to serving her country.

"Whatever they say I have to do, I'll do it," she said.

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Not all Arabs and Jews will celebrate

Ibrahim Azim -- an Arab Muslim -- regards Israel as his nation and says he will celebrate Israel's 50th with his Jewish countrymen.

"You are free. You can pursue what you want."

For other Arabs, however, Israel's very existence is hardly an occasion to mark.

"They think it's their land," said Ra'ed Shahin, 25, who said the anniversary means little to him. Shahin believes "there will be a war" and sees renewed occupation of the West Bank.

"We will have our state," he said.

George Shammas, 70, a Palestinian Arab Christian who is a retired preacher, doesn't remember Israel's independence fondly, because he lost his home.

For other reasons, Israeli Jews are not in a buoyant mood. For many, security is the greatest worry.

Raphael Nissim Mizrahi said he "danced" when Israel was founded in 1948, but won't celebrate now. The dangers and tensions make him think back fondly to the days when the British controlled Palestine.

"Right now, it's not the same, people are not happy," he said. "You leave home in the morning and don't know whether you will come back in the evening."

David Lieberman, 43, an Orthodox Jew, won't celebrate either. Jews are in the Holy Land because God promised it to them, and the state is simply forcing people to celebrate. Israel, he said, is not a state like others.

"We are here because it's Israel" and not the state of Israel.

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Will the next 50 years be quieter?

Israeli Jews say the country has made its mistakes along the way and hope it can rectify them..

Shapir, who regrets the effects of the Lebanon War of the 1980s, wants a society with "everybody living in harmony, like John Lennon sang."

Krielovetzki says another problem is that new Jewish immigrants aren't properly accepted when they arrive in Israel, even though she says "now I feel I belong to this country, not Russia."

Bill Murray, who says it is a mistake for Israel to let "religion go into politics."

Like most Israelis, Murray will celebrate the anniversary with family and friends and reflect on the next five decades.

He hopes "the next 50 years will be a bit quieter."

Zivit Barzilai, 30, a hairdresser from Los Angeles, says the 50th anniversary was a factor in her decision to return to Israel where she was born.

"We stuck together, didn't give up and are still going for it."

Moshe Hever, a former member of the Haganah, the underground defense organization of the yishuv, the Jewish community in Palestine before Israeli independence, says, 50 years is just the beginning for Israel. Eventually, he said, "Our enemy will realize that this is our country."

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	Further reading on Israel