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Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars
and Israel Independence Day
25-26 April 2001 - 2-3 Iyar 5761
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The national anthem:
Hatikva
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Israel Independence Day is celebrated annually, according to the Hebrew calendar, on 5 Iyar, the anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel. As this date falls this year on the Sabbath, it will be celebrated two days early - on Thursday, April 26. The day preceding this celebration is devoted to the memory of those who gave their lives for the achievement of the country's independence and its continued existence.
Israel's 53rd Independence Day celebrations commenced on Wednesday night, April 25, when the state flag was raised to full mast at a national ceremony on Mount Herzl. Twelve torches were lit by citizens who have been honored for doing voluntary public service work. Their selection underscores the theme of this year's Independence Day celebrations - "People who care: volunteering as a way of life." The motif has been chosen to coincide with the United Nations' designation of the year 2001 as "the year of volunteer work."
David Ben-Gurion declares the establishment of the
State of Israel
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Independence Day is a celebration of the renewal of the Jewish state in the Land of Israel, the birthplace of the Jewish people. In this land, the Jewish people began to develop its distinctive religion and culture some 4,000 years ago, and here it has preserved an unbroken physical presence, for centuries as a sovereign state, at other times under foreign domination. Throughout their long history, the yearning to return to the Land has been the focus of Jewish life. With the establishment of the State of Israel fifty years ago, in 1948, Jewish independence, lost two thousand years earlier, was restored.
On Yom Hazikaron, Remembrance Day, the entire nation remembers its debt and expresses eternal gratitude to its sons and daughters who gave their lives for the achievement of the countrys independence and its continued existence. It is a day of collective and personal anguish mingled with awe and honor for the fallen.
| Number of soldiers and security personnel who have fallen since the War of Independence |
19,312 |
Total number fallen (including the pre-State period)
This number includes disabled IDF veterans who later died from their wounds and non-IDF personnel who fell in the line of duty. |
20,906 |
| Number of disabled soldiers |
83,962 |
Chief of Staff Order of the Day - Remembrance Day
On the eve of Independence Day, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced that the population of Israel has reached 6.4 million - an eightfold increase since 1948, when the population numbered 806,000. While 64% of the country's population today are native-born Israelis, Israel has absorbed almost 3 million immigrants since the establishment of the State (60,000 this past year).
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