Thousands of enthusiastic Jews today watched a huge military parade here which was part of the celebration marking the first anniversary of Israeli independence. For 45 minutes steel-helmeted troops passed a reviewing stand on which Brig, Gen. Yacov Dorie, Israeli Army chief of staff, took the salute. Included in the parade were artillery units, mechanized companies, the home guard and Red Mogen David units with their ambulances.
A military parade which was scheduled to take place this afternoon in Tel Aviv was cancelled at the last minute, while members of the government and leaders of the Israeli Army, as well as members of the diplomatic corps, waited on a special platform reserved for them near Mograbi Square. The parade was apparently cancelled because of the Inability of the police force to cope with the unexpectedly large crowd of several hundred thousand persons who lined Allenby Road and Ben Yehuda Street, along which the troops were scheduled to march. “Violent measures to establish order might have caused casualties which we wanted to avoid,” an official spokesman said later.
The blue-and-white flag of Israel flew from buildings throughout Jewish Jerusalem. A thanksgiving service was held in the Yeshuron Synagogue. Earlier, Mayor Daniel Auster laid a cornerstone for an Israeli building–in the Romema quarter–which is dedicated to defenders of Jerusalem.
The blue-and-white emblem was hoisted from shell-scarred rooftops and balconies, and on almost every street in the Jewish sector there were huge portraits of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism. After listening to loudspeakers carrying the nation-wide address of Premier David Ben Gurion, there was singing in the streets and the young people danced the Hora, traditional Palestine group dance. In Zion Square an Israeli police band provided the music.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
