On April 24, 1949, Israel celebrated the first anniversary of statehood with a torch-lighting ceremony. Five Arab nations had invaded Israel the day after David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. On that first Independence Day, hostilities with Syria were still ongoing; war with Egypt, which retained control of the Gaza Strip, had ended in February; Lebanon had made peace in March; Jordan, which retained control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, signed an armistice (which Iraq deferred to) earlier that month.
Israel’s 77th Independence Day took place, once again, in wartime. This year, the now-traditional torch-lighting ceremony at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl was canceled due to massive wildfires and strong winds in the Jerusalem Hills. A pre-recorded torch lighting was broadcast instead; torch bearers included representatives of the IDF, former hostages, American commentator Ben Shapiro, and anonymous members of Mossad who contributed to the September 2024 pager attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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