Ancient violin strings vibrated under Agam Berger’s fingers Wednesday night, her melody joining Dudu Fisher’s solemn prayer for the 59 hostages still trapped in Gaza. Just months after her own release from captivity, Berger’s performance marked the most striking moment in Israel’s drastically scaled-back 77th Independence Day ceremony.
“We need to do everything to get them back home,” Berger would later say when lighting her ceremonial torch.
Raging wildfires in Jerusalem hills, whipped by fierce winds, forced officials to cancel the live ceremony at Mount Herzl hours before its scheduled start. Instead, Israelis watched a pre-recorded rehearsal on television screens while firefighters battled blazes threatening homes and closing roads across the country. Jubilant street parties typically associated with Independence Day were almost universally canceled or postponed.
Transport Minister Miri Regev, who organized this year’s event under the theme “Bridges of Hope,” acknowledged the difficult circumstances facing the nation.
“We are all experiencing divisions and pains prevailing in Israeli society, but at the same time, there is much more that unites us than separates us,” she said before the ceremony.
Emily Damari, another former hostage who lost two fingers when shot during her kidnapping from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, addressed friends still held captive, saying “We will yet see rosy sunsets together.”
Military representatives lit a torch jointly: Lt. Col. Fayez Fares, a Druze commander who fought at Kibbutz Re’im on October 7; Lt. Col. (res.) Hagit Alon Elharar, who lost her son Sgt. Amitay Alon in a Hezbollah drone attack last October; and Inbar Ben-Simon, whose husband served extensive reserve duty during the war.
Other torch-lighters included American political commentator Ben Shapiro, NBA players Omri Casspi and Deni Avdija, Eurovision winner Dana International, and Rachel Edry, who famously placated Hamas terrorists with drinks and snacks while held hostage in her Ofakim home until rescue arrived.
As pre-recorded segments unfolded, major TV networks repeatedly interrupted broadcasts to provide urgent updates on evacuation orders and firefighting efforts. The traditional flag ceremony concluded the event, with IDF Personnel Directorate passing Israeli and military flags to Military Intelligence Directorate.
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