The silver palaver

Israel’s decision to have its national day of mourning bleed into its national day of independence is a poignant reminder that no celebration comes without a cost, in this case, the heavy price of over 23,000 soldiers killed. For daily newspapers, though, that poignant juxtaposition comes with the challenge of producing an edition that encompasses both the mourning that lingers into the setting sun and the joyous anniversary of the founding of the state.

This is a yearly problem, but unlike last year, when the holiday was overshadowed by political rumblings surrounding the coming ouster of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and arguments over the power extremists wield in Israeli society, this time around the only news seems to be that Israel has made it to 69 years and papers struggle to find a balance between the parts of the day.

Some publications do what they can to wring some news out of the holiday, with Haaretz leading with President Reuven Rivlin’s speech calling on Israel to “prevent the next wars with every tool we have.”

Slightly less newsy, Israel Hayom’s front page features a survey showing that a whopping 89% percent of Israelis are “proud to be Israeli.” In actual fact, the headline is created by combining the 58% who are “very proud” with the 31% who are just “proud.” Oh, and did the paper mention that it only included Hebrew-speaking Jews in its survey? It did, way down at the bottom in the fine print.

Nonetheless, the figures are enough for Haim Shine to write that the silver platter — a reference to a Natan Alterman poem about how soldiers give their lives for the “silver platter” of a state — shines as brightly as ever.

“On the 69th independence day for a country that arose from the dust, ashes, and storms of battle, one can already get a historical perspective that allows for a feeling of extraordinary pride in the country’s achievements. There is no other country in the world whose citizens managed within 70 years to build and maintain a world power in all spheres of life,” he writes.

Shine’s column is just one of a bevy of pieces, sometimes purple, sometimes tear-jerking, sometimes critical, that make up the lion’s share of coverage to mark the country’s 69th birthday.

Yedioth Ahronoth’s front page cleverly features a giant 69, with the circle of the 9 containing a picture of a mourning soldier, and the circle of the six a picture of a multicultural group of children waving Israeli flags. The front page also features a passage from a new book by novelist Amoz Oz, in which he is harshly critical of the state, but also praises it, kind of.

“I am very worried about the future. I fear government policies and am embarrassed by them. But it’s being Israeli. It’s good to be a citizen of a country that has 8.5 million prime ministers, 8.5 million prophets, 8.5 million saviors. Every one of us and our own version of redemption or at least a solution,” he writes. “Everyone is yelling, and only a few listen. It’s not boring here. Indeed, it’s irritating, outrageous, depressing, sometimes also causing anger and frustration, and often fascinating and stormy. What I’ve seen here in my life is a lot less and a lot more than what my parents and grandparents saw.”

Haaretz’s lead editorial is even more baldly critical, going so far as to accuse the state (not, tellingly, the government) of having “fascist tendencies.”

“The Declaration of Independence adopted the vision of Israel’s prophets — the universal values that put man at the center, the ones through which Judaism made an enormous contribution worldwide. But the nationalist State of Israel, with its fascist tendencies, scorns and derides these values. Israeli society must fight to restore the vision of the Declaration of Independence and make it the state’s vision once more. We cannot and must not accept its abolition,” the paper writes.

Giving some much-needed focus to the bereaved side of things, the paper also runs a large heartfelt feature on the struggles of kibbutz families who adopt lone soldiers who are then killed, but are not recognized as bereaved. According to Tzvika Levy quoted in the paper, 30 lone soldiers have been killed in battle.

“It’s a different kind of parental responsibility, but it’s still quite complex and challenging. When an adopted soldier gets sick, or hurt physically or emotionally, the adoptive family is the first circle of support, and God forbid if he is killed, it’s the most painful loss there is for the biological family, and it’s very painful for the adoptive parents and siblings and for the kibbutz coordinator of the lone soldiers,” the paper quotes Yael Eisner, who coordinates lone soldier placements for the Kibbutz movement. “We are very attached to and love the lone soldiers and when they are hurt, the bereavement and pain expands to the adoptive family and to the kibbutz community too.”

Israel Hayom also looks at lone soldiers, or one particular lone soldier, Edna Sandman, who grew up ultra-Orthodox in New York before joining the IDF and training to be a combat officer, and will on Tuesday received the President’s Medal of Excellence, with her parents, who are not Zionist, present.

“It’s clear to me that for a girl with my background it’s not simple to serve in the army, but this was my dream and I am happy with the path I have taken,” she is quoted saying.

As evidenced by its multicultural front page picture, Yedioth’s focus is more in bringing together the various warring tribes of Israeli society and settler comedian/columnist Hanoch Daum pens a column which boils down to “we can all just get along.”

“There’s a process of polarization going on. There are groups in society that define themselves but putting down another … we can’t let them win,” he writes. “There are good people living here, leftists and right-wingers, secular and religious, that understand that it’s a Jewish state, but are against coercion, people who are pragmatic from a diplomatic point of view, people who can manage an argument without stopping loving, Israeli who aren’t willing to despair.”