Post date: Apr 16, 2013 12:3:5 PM
Israel and its leaders enjoy 65th Independence Day celebrations.
JERUSALEM (APRIL 16, 2013) (POOL)- Israel on Tuesday (April 16) celebrated its 65th anniversary, with family barbecues, military honour guards and a reception at the presidential residence.
Israeli President Shimon Peres walked with his chief of staff Benny Gantz as they inspected the honour guard with the Israeli army marching band playing in the background.Prime Minster Netanyahu and Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon arrived and walked side by side with Peres as they marked the start of the celebrations.
Throughout the day, there will be a number of military displays as many Israelis celebrate with barbecues across the country.
In Jerusalem, residents celebrated with picnics and barbecues in the park.
For Joseph it was an opportunity to spend time with family.
"We are happy to be together and celebrate the 65 years of Israel and nice to see people together," he told Reuters Television.
Jerusalem resident, Hila was also celebrating the day at the Sakkar garden inJerusalem.
"The 65 independent day for Israel it's a very happy day for us. We all come here to celebrate with barbecue and all the family. And I wish that the next independent day we are going to have peace with all the world," she said.
Founded partly on the basis of Jewish claims to biblical land and partly as a haven for survivors of European persecution that culminated in the Nazi Holocaust, Israeldeclared independence on May 14, 1948, hours before a U.N. mandate in the then British-ruled Palestine expired.
Minor scuffles erupted on Tuesday (April 16) in East Jerusalem as residents distribute Palestinian flags while Israel celebrates it's 65th independence anniversary.
While Israelis celebrate their independence, Palestinians will mark the "Nakba", or catastrophe, of the Jewish state's creation, when about 700,000 people, half the Palestinian population of Palestine, fled or were driven from their homes by Jewish fighters. Official Palestinian ceremonies and protests will take place on May 15th.