Israel’s raucous Independence Day celebrations will be a little quieter this year.
Independence Day in Israel comes a day after it marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. It is one of the most somber days on the calendar, as bereaved families visit cemeteries and the country comes to a standstill for a solemn moment to remember the dead. Restaurants, theaters and other entertainment venues close, and TV and radio broadcast melancholy music and stories about Israel’s wars and the dead.
Israel's military is compulsory for Jewish men and women and with the country having fought numerous wars over the decades, many soldiers have seen battle and almost every Israeli knows someone killed in action. The melancholic mood ends abruptly in the evening with a burst of jubilant Independence Day celebrations, which usually include fireworks.
The decision to cancel fireworks in many cities drew criticism from some nationalists, who saw it as an attempt to scale back Israeli patriotism. “There is some interest here to temper Independence Day celebrations,” Yair Netanyahu, the son of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a prominent nationalist voice, wrote on Twitter. “There have been fireworks on Independence Day for 70 years and there was never any problem with it!”
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