Festivities to Mark Israel’s Sixth Anniversary Tomorrow

Preparations for the celebration of Israel’s sixth anniversary Thursday are in full swing in all parts of the country. The army, the government, the municipalities and the national institutions all are participating in some aspect of the Independence Day festivities.

The army’s chief display will be a parade along a four-mile course at Ramleh which is now a center for recent immigrants. Beside a regular infantry column, special units of the army will parade, including a camel corps which is making its first public appearance, and units composed of non-Jews. Reservists will also march. Some 100, 000 persons are expected to view the parade.

Other celebrations will follow the general line of previous years and will feature public balls, youth festivals and street dancing. On the day before, Memorial Day, special services will be held on Mt. Zion and in all military cemeteries in honor of those who died in the War of Liberation.

President Ben Zvi has issued a message in commemoration of the sixth anniversary of Israel’s Independence. This anniversary follows “years of struggle and achievement, years of creative accomplishment, and years, too, of suffering and sacrifice,” stated the President’s message.

The message noted that despite “the incessant bloodshed” on Israel’s frontiers caused by Arab aggression, “among our friends there are those who fail to recognize this threat – a threat to us and the world at large – and continue to encourage and strengthen the aggressors. ” In pointing to the achievements of the year the President emphasized the introduction of the unified educational system, the strengthening of the security forces and the encouraging signs of economic progress.