JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Israel is celebrating its Independence Day during a rare moment of ceasefire, as Israel's wars in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon are on pause. But the Gaza war is a major theme of the country's official celebration this year, as NPR's Daniel Estrin reports.
ARI SPITZ: (Non-English language spoken).
(CHEERING)
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: A young soldier says, "to the glory of the state of Israel," as he lights a torch for the country's official Independence Day ceremony and raises high his prosthetic hook.
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ESTRIN: Dual Israeli-U.S. citizen Ari Spitz lost two legs and an arm after an explosion in a booby-trapped building in Gaza. He's a torch lighter this year, one of the country's biggest honors.
PRESIDENT JAVIER MILEI: (Singing in non-English language).
ESTRIN: Argentina's President Javier Milei is also there, singing in the ceremony - one of the few Latin American leaders who still supports Israel after the Gaza war.
One honoree has stirred controversy, Orthodox Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, who has served as an Israeli military reservist, demolishing homes in Gaza and Lebanon.
AVRAHAM ZARBIV: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: In his speech, he praises military bulldozer operators like him, calling them the vanquishers of the enemy and dismantlers of terror infrastructure. In Gaza, Zarbiv published videos from inside his bulldozer.
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ZARBIV: (Non-English language spoken).
ESTRIN: In this video, he says, "we will flatten you and destroy you." He also called for Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Other views are too controversial for this patriotic event. A celebrated actor backed out of the ceremony after intense public criticism because she had signed a petition saying Israeli soldiers had committed war crimes in Gaza. War could resume at any moment, so the dress rehearsal was taped for broadcast in case conflict cancels the live ceremony.
(SOUNDBITE OF SIREN BLARING)
ESTRIN: This siren went off the morning before Independence Day for Memorial Day. Israelis got out of their cars and stood in silence to remember fallen soldiers and victims of attacks throughout Israel's history.
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ESTRIN: These ceremonies tell the story of where Israel is today, says Noam Tirosh of Israel's Ben-Gurion University. He researches commemoration.
NOAM TIROSH: The official story we tell ourselves is a story of an endless war that we must win in order to survive. We had many, many young soldiers dying. Much less attention is given to hope, the future of peace and reconciliation.
ESTRIN: But there is one ceremony every year that does embrace these values - a joint Israeli-Palestinian ceremony held yesterday in a secret location in Tel Aviv to avoid hecklers.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing in non-English language).
ESTRIN: It was streamed live to gatherings in Israel and to a group of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Speakers were from Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, all sharing stories of loved ones lost in the war between them. Israeli Ayala Metzger spoke. Her father-in-law was killed in captivity in Gaza.
AYALA METZGER: (Speaking Hebrew).
ESTRIN: She said she envisions a world in which both Israeli and Palestinian nations recognize each other's existence and not, she said, of endless war, death, hate and revenge. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF MINUTEMEN'S "COHESION") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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