Torch-lighting Ceremony (Israel)

Supreme court justice Miriam Ben-Porat kindles one of 12 torches, 1988

The tradition of lighting torches was started in 1949 by the members of the Gadna premilitary program and Speaker of the Knesset when they visited Theodor Herzl's grave bearing torches. The torch-lighting ceremony become an official event in 1950, emphasizing the unity of the nation.[1]

Ceremony's highlight is the lighting of 12 torches that symbolize Twelve Tribes of Israel. Each year, the ceremony has a different central theme which corresponds to a phase in Israel's struggle for statehood and survival, as chosen by the Ministerial Committee on Ceremonies and Symbols.[2] A few months before the Independence Day, a public notice for the selection of torchbearers is published in the media. A public advisory committee headed by the Director of the Information Center examines the proposals and chooses the torchbearers for that year. The committee consists of 8 to 10 members, including one representative of the chairman of the Ministerial Committee, Knesset and Israeli Prime Minister. Torch lighting is considered an honor. The conditions for selection are stipulated in the government's Rules for the Selection of Torchbearers at the Independence Day Ceremony. The criteria for differentiation of candidates are: balanced geographical distribution, distribution according to age groups to ensure inclusion of people of all generations, diversity in terms of the candidate's background and family's employment, candidate's sensibility towards national and personal pain (Holocaust, bereavement, terrorism) and inclusion of both men and woman, secular and religious people, national and religious minorities, native- and foreign-born Jews, members of different institutions and organizations and representatives of the IDF.[3]

Stage set up for the 1978 celebration

Although the pattern is fixed, certain changes are made occasionally, so the description below may not be fully accurate. The ceremony can be divided into two parts: the ritual and celebrational.

Celebrational part

IDF flag

The celebrational part of the ceremony begins with the drilling exercises performed by the soldiers bearing the flags of various IDF, police and fire and rescue services units. The number of soldiers is the same as the number of the years of Israel celebrated that year. In the meantime, the IDF Orchestra plays several marches, patriotic songs and sometimes modern Jewish pop tunes. During the exercises, soldiers of the color guard create accurate structures symbolizing various things relevant to the central ceremony. Among others, they create a Star of David, letters or numbers that symbolize the years of Israel and the seven-branched menorah. At the end of the exercises, two additional segments, consisting of song/dance numbers, are presented, first celebrating the central theme and the second Independence Day.

Following these the Orchestra and colour guard now take their places, together with the Knesset Guard, for the finale, alongside a composite guard of honor contingent of service personnel of the IDF formed as a platoon (beginning 2016).

Each year, the flags of Israel and IDF are guarded by a different IDF unit. In a special segment of the ceremony, the flags are handed over from the unit that had been safekeeping them the previous year to the unit that would safe keep them until the next celebration, following these the incoming and outgoing color companies take their places in the field.

Afterward, everyone sings the national anthem of Israel, Hatikvah, as the parade renders the final honors to the dignitaries present. After the singing of the national anthem, the ceremonial commander orders the march off, and the whole ceremonial formation marches past the stands and off the field. The Commander of the ceremony then approaches the Speaker, salutes him and says "Madam/Sir Speaker, the ceremony has been concluded!". At the end of the ceremony, a famous singer sings a final song which is followed by a fireworks display and a performance by dancers.

Chief rehabilitation nurse in the rehabilitation department of Hadassah Medical Center Naomi Nalbandian, a third-generation survivor of the 1915 Armenian genocide, was chosen as one of the torchbearers for the 2003 ceremony. Nalbandian wanted to mention the Armenian genocide during her ceremony speech, but was pressured not to mention it so she wouldn't harm Israel-Turkey relations. Nalbandian expressed her dissatisfaction, saying that "people change everything because of politics."[1]

In 2004, it was decided that the ceremony would be marked by the Israeli achievements in sports. The committee selected eleven torchbearers and decided to let citizens vote by text messages for the twelfth. This method of election aroused criticism since many believed that it wasn't fitting for such an important state ceremony. Football player Eli Ohana won, but the criticism grew when the public found out that many of Israel's greatest athletes were not among other eleven torchbearers. As a result of the protests, basketball player Miki Berkowitz was added to the honorees.[4]

In 2005, amid the struggle over the Israeli disengagement from Gaza, Speaker Reuven Rivlin, one of the opponents of the disengagement, made a political speech in which he praised the settlers which triggered the criticism on the left who accused him of taking advantage of the position he was given in ceremony as a state official.[5]

In 2011, Yoel Shalit, brother of an Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who had been held captive by Hamas for five years, and his girlfriend Ya’ara Winkler ran into the square and waved signs reading, "My father is a bereaved brother, I don’t want to be one too", and "Gilad is still alive." At the same ceremony, one of the torchbearers, Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, whose daughter Rivka Holzberg was killed in a 2008 Mumbai attacks, changed the regular formula said when lighting the torches, saying "For the glory of the State of Eretz (the land of) Israel" because of the pressure put on him by Chabad leaders who objected to his participation, saying that if the rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson were alive he would have forbidden him from taking part, out of opposition to Zionism.[1][6][7]

On 18 April 2012, during a ceremony rehearsal, Lieutenant Hila Bezaleli was killed and seven other soldiers from the flag squad were injured when a steel lighting rig above the square collapsed.[8][9]

In 2014, the committee, at the time headed by Limor Livnat, discriminated against men by only choosing women as torchbearers.[10]

In 2016, during the drilling exercises, soldiers spelled the phrase "one people, one state" which reminded many of the Nazi slogan "one people, one Reich, one Führer".[11]

Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein and Minister of Culture Miri Regev disagreed over whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be allowed to speak at the 2018 ceremony, commemorating Israel's 70th anniversary, or not. Minister Regev considered that Prime Minister Netanyahu should be allowed to give a speech which was contrary to tradition according to which only the Speaker of the Knesset delivered a speech at the ceremony, with Prime Minister and President not even attending. Edelstein announced that if Netanyahu was allowed to speak, neither he nor Knesset guards would attend.[12] Carmi Gillon, a former chief of Shin Bet, called on people to switch off their televisions while Netanyahu spoke.[13] Opposition leader Isaac Herzog criticized Minister Regev stating that only the Speaker of the Knesset should be allowed to speak because "neither Prime Minister nor the President are state sovereigns – the Knesset is the sovereign", arguing that if Prime Minister was allowed to deliver a speech, representative of the opposition should be given the same privilege as well.[14] In the end, a compromise was reached by which Prime Minister was allowed to give a short speech in honor of Israel's 70th anniversary and even kindle a torch together with the Speaker.[15] Eventually, Prime Minister Netanyahu broke the deal and spoke for 14 minutes which was almost twice as much as what was usually given to the Speaker.[16][17]

• Independence Day (Israel)

• Media related to Israeli Independence Day ceremony at Wikimedia Commons