Israeli National Holidays

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Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut are Israel’s national holidays commemorating the lives lost in the fight for freedom and the day celebrating their independence.

The modern State of Israel, celebrating its 76th year in 2024, was founded in 1948 and a national holiday was established to celebrate the end of British rule. In 1963, the State of Israel created a national memorial day in memory of all those who have died defending the country from 1860 to the present. The choice to observe Memorial Day just before celebrating Independence Day is a symbolic gesture that is meant to remind people of the very high “cost” of statehood.