Israel at 75: Can a divided nation reconcile its differences?

Israel’s marking of its 75th Independence Day was supposed to be a celebratory event, a day of national unity.

Instead, the milestone last week and the solemn, annual Memorial Day that immediately preceded it were marred by deep social divisions over urgent matters like the government’s plan to overhaul the judiciary as well as existential debates surrounding liberal democratic values and Jewish identity.

Bereaved families scuffled with each other among the graves of fallen loved ones at military cemeteries. Protests forced government officials to cancel their participation at memorial ceremonies. Opposition leader Yair Lapid boycotted the state Independence Day ceremony.

Tellingly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly stressed “unity” in multiple speeches – even invoking the 40 years Jews spent wandering in the desert in the Book of Exodus as a lesson to be heeded on the need to resolve disputes – and the Israel Air Force’s country-wide flyover was held