Tel Aviv - Israelis were set Thursday to flock to parks and
picnic sites to celebrate the country's 60th independence day, which
kicked off Wednesday night with a state ceremony in Jerusalem and
public events in city squares throughout the country.
The Israel Air Force is scheduled to give aerial displays over the
skies of the country, and dozens of naval vessels are to sail from
the port city of Haifa in the north to that of Ashdod in the south.
People are also expected to flock to nature reserves, picnic sites
and museums, which are open to the public without payment for the
occasion.
Thousands of police, including special units, are to secure the
events.
Roadblocks will be set up at city entrances and beefed up forces
have begun patrolling the border with the West Bank and Gaza, police
spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
The police have raised their alert to the second-highest level,
amid warnings that Arab militants might try to mar the festivities
with a major attack.
Festivities began Wednesday night, at the end of a 24-hour day of
mourning for the more than 20,000 soldiers and civilians killed in
fighting that preceded and followed Israel's creation.
'There are nations richer than the State of Israel, there are
nations quieter than the State of Israel, and there are nations
bigger than the State of Israel, but there is no nation in the world
like the State of Israel,' Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik said during
the state ceremony show on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl.
'Yes, there are flaws, there is still a lot to do,' she said. 'But
behind the flaws is a terrific country.'
After the state ceremony, celebrations began in city squares and
parks throughout Israel, with fireworks lighting up the skies, sound
and light shows in many places and popular singers performing at many
of the events.
Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, but Independence Day
is celebrated each year according to the Hebrew calender.
Palestinians, for their part, are to commemorate the 60th
anniversary of the start of the 1948-49 war that followed Israel's
creation, known to them as the Nakba (Catastrophe), on Thursday next
week with marches, rallies and an address by President Mahmoud Abbas.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story