2 IDF officers selected as Independence Day torchlighters

Two IDF officers have been selected to serve as torchlighters at Israel’s 77th Independence Day official state ceremony.

Lt. Col. Fayez Fares and Lt. Col. (res.) Hagit Alon Elharar will light a torch during the ceremony on the evening of April 30, one of the annual highlights of the national holiday.

They were selected by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, after the recommendation of a panel that selects the torchbearers, and following the approval of Transportation Minister Miri Regev.

Fares, from the Druze town of Hurfeish, most recently served as the commander of the Kfir Brigade’s training base. He is soon set to take over as the commander of the Ephraim Regional Brigade.

On the morning of October 7, Fares arrived with his troops independently at Kibbutz Re’im, where they fought against dozens of terrorists and rescued civilians.

Alon Elharar, a mother of three from Ramot Naftali, is a senior logistics officer in the Northern Command. She was evacuated from her home in the north amid Hezbollah’s attacks at the start of the war, and has been serving in the reserves since October 7, 2023.

Her son, Sgt. Amitay Alon, 19, was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack on the Golani Brigade’s training base on October 13, 2024.

Despite the death of her son and still being displaced from her home, Alon Elharar has continued to serve in the reserves, the army says.

The two are among a number of people who will light torches at the annual ceremony next week.