Video: Min. Edelstein Wishes Israel Happy Birthday
Minister of Information and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein on
Wednesday recorded a special greeting for Yom Hazikaron [Memorial
Day] and Yom Haatzmaut [Independence Day].
"Still again, we are facing the same dilemma," Edelstein said on the
eve of Israel´s 64th birthday. "The possible switch of the grief of
the day of the fallen soldiers on the day of rememberance, to the
wonderful simcha, [the] wonderful joy, of the day of Israel´s
independence."
"But, I think that we shouldn´t change anything about it. This is
exactly the story of the Jewish people, and the story of Israel:
grief and sorrow, closely followed [by] our joy, our pride, and the
achievements that we all have.
"And I think that it´s fair to say, that we should remember [on] this
wonderful Independence Day, that the price was high, that nearly
twenty-three thousand Israelis, Israeli soldiers, gave their lives in
order for us to be able to celebrate as a free country, as a free
people.
"Let us all have a wonderful Independence Day. Let us all continue
growing. Let´s bring more achievements, more joy, to this wonderful
country, the Jewish state.
"Yom Haatzmaut Sameach," he concluded.
The number who have fallen in IDF service and in terror attacks in
Israel since the First Aliya in 1860 presently stands at 22,993.
According to Israel´s Central Bureau of Statistics the population of
Israel numbers 7,881,000 people on the eve of its 64th anniversary -
and almost tenfold increase since the declaration of the Jewish state.
