Remember and celebrate

The Memorial Day began somberly last night and tonight the country will transition to the joyous Independence Day. In a similar vein, the papers conveyed both elements in their coverage.

Only Haaretz broke this mold and instead led with an interview with IDF chief Benny Gantz and his opinion on the Iranian situation. The article quotes Gantz in its headline, “The pressure on Iran is beginning to bear fruit.” The majority of the interview focuses on the Iranian threat, and Gantz states that he believes that ultimately Iran will not produce a bomb because it is a rational entity.

Memorial Day

Yedioth Ahronoth begins its coverage of the two holidays with the headline “Flag of tears, flag of hope.” Inside, its coverage began with an article, “Together in pain,” describing the Memorial Day events and aptly capturing the feeling of the country in its subheadline, “Thousands of bereaved families will arrive at the cemeteries and with them will be a nation that remembers.”

Israel Hayom captures the solemn mood of Memorial Day with its headline, “The nation stands at attention.” The four pages of coverage focus both on the official ceremonies last night in Jerusalem and on stories of families’ grief over those who have fallen. Dan Margalit writes a touching op-ed piece about a student who came from London and was killed in battle. He never knew the student’s name but his eyes still haunt Margalit. “There is a gap between the personal and public grief, but on Memorial Day there is not.”

Maariv offers Memorial Day coverage with two articles: one from 1948 and a column by Ben Caspit about loss in Israel. The first article was written by the late Dr. Azriel Kalebach a year after the UN resolution and appeared in the very first edition of Maariv in 1948. In the piece, the doctor describes the struggles and the excitement of creating the new State of Israel. Recounting the various “yes” votes at the UN, the doctor concludes the piece by saying that the Jewish state having the support of both the US and Russia was a great miracle.

Caspit’s column recounts the news of the deadly helicopter crash 15 years ago in northern Israel that claimed the lives of 73 soldiers. “It is hard to find an Israeli who doesn’t know exactly where he was when he heard the news,” Caspi writes. He describes how while covering the story for Channel 2 news, he encountered a family in mourning and how it affected him. He then expands the story to relate it to the overall holiday, “Take this story and multiply it by twenty thousand times and you’ll understand what it means to be Israeli.”

Yedioth and Maariv also dedicate space to last week’s tragedy at Mount Herzl, in which 2nd Lieutenant Hila Bezalel was killed during a rehearsal for tonight’s ceremony. Yedioth shows IDF chief Benny Gantz saluting at her grave earlier in the week. The paper quotes Hila’s mother saying that she is still searching for the strength to deal with the loss of her daughter.

Independence Day

Yedioth Ahronoth focuses on Independence Day with an article headlined “together in joy.” The article details the new statistics for Israel (which are also printed separately along the top of the page) and mostly deal with the Israeli population. Among the highlights: Israel grew by 1.8% the past year and its population is 7.8 million people; 161,000 new babies were born and 39,000 people died. Ronen Shaked writes an optimistic opinion piece comparing Israel to a start-up. Despite the challenges Israel faces, always updating, finding new fixes to our problems, the solutions to our problems are in our own hands.

Israel Hayom also transitions to Independence Day, giving the holiday four pages of coverage. The newspaper also covers the yearly statistics but also has an article about the Israeli Independence Day tradition: barbecuing. The short, disheartening article warns that while the kabobs and pitot may be delicious, they are also full of calories. Meat in particular is full of calories and fat, especially when combined with a pita. How to cut calories out of the barbecue? According to the Health Ministry, drink water instead of soda and bring some fruit instead of hummus.

Israel Hayom also has an op-ed that details all the struggles that Israel encountered over the past year, from the social protests to the sentencing of Moshe Katsav.  But the piece takes a “we are in this together” tone, and despite highlighting the numerous challenges facing Israel, concludes that the fire of Zion and Zionism will not be extinguished.

Maariv makes the transition to Independence Day with three opinion pieces about the troubles facing Israel. Ben-Dror Yemini writes that if Herzl were to come back today he would realize that “we are champions at complaining.” But despite the challenges, Israel had made great strides and despite the problems facing us, we deserve a day of happiness.

Haaretz comments on Independence Day as well in a piece titled “Community or state.” The paper writes: “Independence Day seeks to transcend the heart and become something more than just another year of existence.” But the piece warns that the recent political stagnation threatens the state through inactivity. Focusing solely on one enemy threatens to derail Israel by not dealing with the “fundamental issues facing Israel.” The piece concludes that the vision of peace and normalization has united us for the past 60 years and can do so again.