(Ha'aretz) Leora Eren Frucht - Israel's official Independence Day ceremony will be held on Monday evening, May 5, at the Mount Herzl national cemetery. The heart of the ceremony is the lighting of 12 beacons, one for each of the tribes of Israel. This year, for the first time, all the torch-lighters will be women. They include educator Adina Bar Shalom, IDF Maj.-Gen. Orna Barbivai, Paralympic athlete Pascale Bercovitch, Israel's highest-ranking tennis player Shahar Peer, prestate underground fighter Geula Cohen, National Students Council chairwoman Gal Yoseph, Intel Israel CEO Maxine Fassberg, veteran military affairs reporter Carmela Menashe, educator and mother of two Israeli army officers who fell in the line of duty Miriam Peretz, director of a center to help victims of sexual assault Tali Peretz-Cohen, Technion researcher Kira Radinsky, Israeli Arab entrepreneur Hindia Suleiman, Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia Belaynesh Zevadia, and theater actress Miriam Zohar.
2014-05-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive