Yom Huledet Sameach! Happy Birthday to the State of Israel!

The State of Israel is celebrating its 60th Birthday today.

Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Jerusalem Post on 60 years of public life.

Other Jerusalem Post Israel@60 articles

Ynet’s coverage

British PM Gordon Brown: Israel`s creation one of the 20th century`s `greatest achievements`

Iran’s Ahmadinejad compares Israel to a dead rat

ISRAEL21c: Israel in 2008 bears little resemblance to the tiny agricultural nation that declared independence 60 years ago. Today it’s a high tech superpower, leading the world in the fields of biotech, environment, culture and art. ISRAEL21c celebrates the faces and places of Israel in the 21st century.

JTA: Sixty years of successes, despite Israel’s craziness

TIP’s Israel at 60 Toolkit

UPDATE:
Editorial: The Jewish Week

Ehud Ya’ari, one of the most clear-eyed and reputable of Israeli journalists, offers a sobering analysis of Israel’s situation on the eve of its 60th anniversary of statehood.

Writing in The Jerusalem Report (“The Two-Front Threat Remains,” May 12), he asserts that while Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza and the re-arming of Hezbollah in Lebanon are largely perceived in Israel as “an irritating nuisance,” they actually represent an emerging existential threat. If left alone, Hamas will take over the West Bank and Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, will do the same in Lebanon, solidifying their roles as front men for Iran. But Israel’s leadership is too weak or short-sighted to act forcefully, argues Ya’ari, who calls for defeating Hamas in Gaza now, before matters grow worse.

hat such a disturbing analysis comes as Israelis and their supporters around the world prepare to celebrate the creation, growth and flourishing of the Jewish state — one that has not known a single day of peace — is a reminder that for all the richly deserved tributes we will hear this week about the miracle of Israel, the fact remains that its survival is not guaranteed….

3 Responses to “Yom Huledet Sameach! Happy Birthday to the State of Israel!”

1. Slamfu says:

   May 8, 2008 at 3:36 pm

   Happy Birthday Israel. As always, watch your ass.
2. DLS says:

   May 8, 2008 at 4:19 pm

   You beat me to it. No more Yom Kippur surprises!
3. elrod says:

   May 8, 2008 at 11:46 pm

   I've always wanted to visit Israel. My parents have been there but I've never had the opportunity. What most American Jews tell me is that the strangest sensation upon visiting Israel is the realization that virtually everybody around you is Jewish (except when in Arabic neighborhoods, I suppose). I guess that would be kind of odd because I'm so used to being a small Jewish minority wherever I live and I don't know if I'd be all that comfortable being in the majority!

   One thing my father told me about Israel was how present-focused and realistic Israelis are. They often mock Americans for high-minded idealism, but they don't necessarily fall into cynicism either. Their existence is always precarious, and so they approach life with great enthusiasm. At least that was his observation.

   I've got all sorts of feelings about Israeli-Palestinian issues and whatnot, but I feel that I need to visit the place to get a real sense for Israel. I am an American Jew and will always be so. But I have always perked up at the presence of Jews outside America; how did their ancestors lead those Jews to those places and not to New York like my ancestors? Maybe we all lived in the same area of the old Russian Pale of Settlement (southeastern Lithuania). Anyway, it would be quite an experience for me to go.

   So Happy Birthday Israel. You've had an interesting life so far. I can only hope to check you out some time soon.