The right to strike The end of the story is known: During the Six-Day War, no battles were waged between the IDF and the U.S. But what is not known is that the Americans had had an emergency plan to attack Israel.
By Amir Oren
A wonderful country My father, of blessed memory, was a refugee who never found his place in the new, promised land. But on Independence Day he always brought the rolled-up flag out of the closet, and hung it proudly from the balcony.
By Gideon Levy
My Independence Day - 1983: The parade that wasn't 'Every day we bury more young men, the soldiers on the front are falling off their feet, the world is shocked by the massacre in the refugee camps and the kitty is empty. And what Begin and are thinking about now is a military parade.'
By Akiva Eldar
My Independence Day - 1956: Photograph of a sabra Nothing in Ophira Erez's resume was connected to my life, but she wasn't forgotten. In 1956, when I was in first grade, I thought she was the perfect symbol of everything people dreamed about here.
By Avirama Golan
The old man's black book What does a seasoned politician with experience in the civilian arena do when he is appointed defense minister? Judging by the actions of David Ben-Gurion, one should take a break, reduce other activities to a minimum and devote oneself to studying security issues.
By Mordechai Naor
Tunneling into Hyrcania When asked what leads a person from a small town in Missouri, in the American Midwest, to invest all his energies and money, and to even risk his life, in digging ancient tunnels in the Judean desert, Bob had a one-sentence answer: 'The Treasure of the Copper Scroll.'
By Danny Rubinstein
My Independence Day - 1972: One hand, three generals Among other reasons, I had immigrated to Israel from Morocco thanks to the victory of the Israeli army in the Six-Day War. I fell in love with its might even before I was introduced to it.
By Daniel Ben Simon
Do we even need a state? On the 5th of the Hebrew month of Iyar in 1948, a rare window of opportunity opened in the history of the Jewish nation for realizing its unique identity in all possible contexts, including government.
By Avi Sagi and Yedidia Stern
Becoming Israeli 101 The unification of Battalion 890 and Unit 101 eliminated the adventurous element from my military service and replaced it with a recognition that someone had to defend Israel's borders and sovereignty, and no one was going to do this in my stead.
By Zvi Yanai
My Independence Day - 2002: Hatikva, the house version Celebrants at Ha'oman 17 greeted the house-music version of the national anthem, which brought the young dancers back to their libidinous dancing after the initial silence of astonishment, with loud shouts and an outbreak of song.
By Ari Shavit
From prosciutto in Florence to hummus in Abu Ghosh - And back A young Italian Jew comes to Israel, picks up the language, witnesses a terror attack, meets a sabra girl, enlists in the army - and stops worrying about being a Jew.
By Shulim Vogelmann
My Independence Day - 1993: The flag seller In contrast to the traditional Independence Day photographs popular at the time, this photograph reduced the 'big' Israeli experience to a small, seemingly marginal detail that represented the Israeli experience with a wink.
By Ehud Asheri
My Independence Day - 1985: Widow, farmer, pioneer My mother used to be on 'Eretz Moledet.' I would see her on the educational TV channel when I was home from school, sick. Her voice was hoarse from the Parliament cigarettes she smoked, and she wore funny clothes and did all kinds of strange things.
By Dea Hadar
Making peace with our human landscape After we've paved paradise, what we are left with is our constructed landscape, and we must rack our brains about how to upgrade, and not ruin, it. That's what poet Haim Nahman Bialik wanted to do with Tel Aviv many years ago, when it was still a small town.
By Esther Zandberg
A perfect match Fashion designers and their loyal customers explain what they see in each other.
By Ilit Mainemer
In praise of smoking The quick, simple way to smoke meat or fish for immediate consumption, even without a backyard.
By Doram Gaunt
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