CNN - Israel at 50: Israelis celebrate 50 years of statehood


	COMMUNITY
	Message Boards Chat Feedback
	SITE SOURCES
	Contents Help! Search CNN Networks
	SPECIALS
	Quick News Almanac Video Vault News Quiz

Main | Timeline | Maps | Virtual Tour | Message Boards | News | Sites

Israelis celebrate 50 years of statehood

Fireworks fill the sky at the ceremony at Mount Herzl

50th anniversary festivities climax Thursday

In this story:

Netanyahu: Israel 'modern miracle'
Country pauses to remember war dead
Objections raised to dancers at main event
Related sites and stories
April 30, 1998
Web posted at: 5:49 a.m. EDT (0949 GMT)
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- With triumphant blasts from ceremonial ram's horns and colorful explosions of fireworks, Israel officially kicked off its 50th anniversary celebration Wednesday evening and threw a nationwide party that was still going strong Thursday.

"Long live the state of Israel," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday at a ceremony at Mount Herzl, named for Theodore Herzl, the 19th-century European Jew whose dream of a Jewish homeland inspired Israel's birth in 1948.

The celebration is to climax with Jubilee Chimes, an elaborate entertainment showcase at a Jerusalem stadium. U.S. Vice President Al Gore will be on hand to represent Americans at the event.

Gore landed in Israel Thursday morning and held talks with Israel's trade minister, former Russian dissident Natan Sharansky, before heading for his first stop, a solar energy exhibition.

After the ceremony at Mount Herzl, revelers packed Jerusalem's Zion Square, dancing the night away amid heavy security. Some were playfully spraying each other, and passers-by, with shaving cream. A carnival atmosphere prevailed on city streets, where vendors sold sparklers, flags and anniversary T-shirts.

"I feel wonderful," said Tikva Rein, 15. "We've managed to survive for the past 50 years, and this gives up hope for the next 50."

On Thursday, Israelis wrapped themselves in flags, danced in the streets and gathered for family barbecues in parks. Revelers wrapped themselves in flags emblazoned with the Star of David and danced to religious rock music and hip-hop.

It is an incredible experience," said 18-year-old Elana Santo of New York City after she prayed at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine, on Thursday. "The unity I feel here is nothing like the Fourth of July in America. It's a genuine unity."

A L S O :

Israel at 50: Army holds Israeli society together

Netanyahu: Israel 'modern miracle'

In an anniversary statement, Netanyahu called Israel a "modern miracle," citing a roll call of cultural, technical and economic accomplishments.

At the top of the list was simple survival. The Jewish homeland was founded in the wake of the Holocaust and was attacked by five Arab neighbors within hours of declaring independence.

From the rolling green hills of the Galilee to sun-baked towns in the Negev desert, blue-and-white Israeli flags flew from apartment balconies and fluttered from car windows Wednesday.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on Israel's jubilee
3 min. VXtreme video

CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on celebrations and ceremonies on the 50th anniversary of Israel
3.7MB/55 sec./240x180
2MB/55 sec./160x120
QuickTime movie

"I feel happy and at home -- that's enough for me," said Even Livni, 73, who moved to Israel from Yugoslavia in 1951.

But while Israel celebrates, the Palestinians have been shut out in the most literal sense -- passage from Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has been blocked until Saturday night, the end of the anniversary holiday weekend. Security forces are on heightened alert against possible terrorist attacks.

Country pauses to remember war dead

Before the official revelry began, Israelis paused Wednesday to honor the nation's war dead at ceremonies around the country. At 11 a.m., the wail of sirens brought the nation to a halt for two minutes of silent remembrance.

Netanyahu honors his brother, Yonni, who was killed in 1976

Since 1948, nearly 19,000 men and women have died in wars and conflicts with the Jewish state's Arab neighbors.

For Netanyahu, Wednesday's grieving was personal as well as collective. After attending a memorial ceremony on behalf of all of Israel's fallen warriors, he visited the grave of his brother, Yonni, who died in 1976 when Israeli commandos rescued hijacked airline passengers in Entebbe, Uganda.

At one ceremony, some relatives of the war dead objected vehemently to the central speaker, an ultra-religious Jewish rabbi, because many members of the ultra-religious community don't serve in the military. The rabbi, Meir Porush, needed a phalanx of police to escort him away.

Objections raised to dancers at main event

Another brewing battle between religious and secular Israelis is threatening the Jubilee Chimes stage show that is supposed to be a centerpiece of the anniversary celebration.

Religious lawmakers are trying to stop a performance by the Batsheva Dance Troupe, whose choreography calls for performers to strip down to their underwear.

"The 50th anniversary celebrations are funded by the government, and they ought to unite the people, not offend part of the public," said Shlomo Benizri, who heads the parliamentary delegation of the religious Shas party.

Palestinian women stage mock fights in the West Bank to protest 50 years of Israeli rule

Critics of the performance first asked the Supreme Court to stop it, but the court refused to get involved. So lawmakers from Shas and the United Torah Judaism party have appealed to Netanyahu to stop the performance. The two parties hold 14 seats in the Knesset, enough to bring down Netanyahu's government.

But the Israel Artists Union fired back, saying it will boycott the entire show if any acts are censored.

"This is religious coercion at its worst," said Shaike Levy, the union's chairman. "No self-respecting artists can cooperate with or countenance this."

Correspondent Jerrold Kessel, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

•-• •-• •-• •-• •-• •-• •-• •-• •-• •-• •-• •-•
More Stories:
Israel's 50th birthday: parties and protests
Pensive Israelis honor war dead, prepare for jubilee
Palestinians struggle to hold onto homes
Analysis: Stalled peace casts pall on celebration
Analysis: On Israel's 50th, the glass is half full
Voices of Israel: Reflections on a half-century of struggle and triumph
View from the West Bank: One man's anniversary is another's catastrophe
Author and former diplomat Gideon Rafael, 85, recalls Israel's early days
Israel as sacred site for many faiths
Israel At-a-Glance: Facts and Figures on the State of Israel
Army holds Israeli society together
Israel honors war dead before anniversary celebration

Main | Timeline | Maps | Virtual Tour | Message Boards | News | Sites