Israel begins celebrations for 60th anniversary

   

Tens of thousands of Israelis are expected to take to the country's parks on Thursday to mark Independence Day with a traditional barbeque. A series of events will also take place across the country in celebration of the State's 60th birthday. President Shimon Peres held a reception at his Jerusalem residence for past and present Israel Defense Force commanders. The event was attended by prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Ehud Barak, IDF chiefs as well as former presidents and prime ministers. Soldiers received merit certificates from the president, and representatives of the diplomatic corps serving in Israel arrived to congratulate Peres on Independence Day.

Celebrations began at sunset on Wednesday at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl memorial where soldiers raised the Israeli flag from half to full mast. The speaker of the Knesset, Dalia Itzik, expressed her sympathy for the families of all those who had died in defense of Israel since 1948. "The State of Israel is an unusual success story, a wonder by any historical standard," she said, adding, "There are flaws and we still have things to do, but behind these flaws is a great country." Fireworks displays later lit up the sky across the country and tens of thousands of people attended performances by local artists and musicians.

Next week, US president George W. Bush will attend a conference in Jerusalem along with other dignatories including former British prime minister Tony Blair, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder.

Shimon Peres, Israel's president, will host the conference, along with a party for 60-year-old Israelis born on the day Israel declared its independence, re-establishing Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land for the first time in nearly 2,000 years."We are small in size, small in numbers, so we cannot become a big market or a big industry but Israel can become a daring laboratory." Peres told the Associated Press news agency.

Israel declared itself an independent state on 14 May 1948, following a United Nations resolution and the end of the British Mandate for the administration of Palestine.