Emigres Celebrate Israel’s Independence Day Amid Tight Security

With their thoughts on their violence-racked homeland, thousands of Israeli emigres celebrated Israel’s 48th Independence Day in Lake View Terrace on Sunday with speeches, traditional folk dances--and a distinctly nontraditional swimsuit modeling show.

To guard against the possibility of terrorism, the event’s organizers hired extra security, and Los Angeles police officers patrolled outside the Hansen Dam Sports Complex. There were no reported incidents of violence.

Most of the about 4,000 attendees seemed untroubled by security concerns, however, and concentrated instead on Ferris wheel rides, booths stocked with kosher food, and songs in Hebrew.

“After all,” said Joshua Orman, who has split his 28 years between Southern California and the Middle East, “this is L.A., not northern Israel.”

He was referring to recent clashes between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, violence that has taken more than 150 lives--most of them Lebanese civilians--injured hundreds of others and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

Here in Los Angeles--home to 100,000 Israelis, the second-largest such community in the United States--Jerome Gutman, the organizer of the Hansen Dam festival, said security was the “No. 1 concern,” but pressed ahead with the annual celebration anyway.

“We were worried that people would be scared to come because of what is happening in Israel and Lebanon,” Gutman said. “But they came out to show their solidarity.”

Israeli flags--the blue Star of David on a white background--showed up on cowboy hats, on motorcycle T-shirts and painted on children’s faces.

A variety of booths offered barbecued chicken, religious pamphlets and credit card applications, and the language being spoken was as likely to be Hebrew as English.

From the stage, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) assured the crowd that the oft-divided U.S. Congress is firmly pro-Israel.

“With all the partisan squabbling we usually have,” Berman said, “I have never seen a greater level in the support for Israel.”

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan also spoke briefly, and politicians ranging from President Bill Clinton to state Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) sent letters of support. While a lasting peace in the Mideast was being challenged by Hezbollah guerrillas, Clinton wrote, the United States “will work to ensure that they will not [succeed].”

The recent outbreak of violence in the Middle East also prompted concerns about possible attacks in this country. Organizers of a concert scheduled for next month at the Universal Amphitheater to celebrate the 3,000th anniversary of Jerusalem said they canceled the event after receiving “strange phone calls . . . that some people viewed as veiled threats,” said Rabbi Baruch Kupfer, an organizer of the event.

The speeches and folk music were followed on stage by bikini-clad women modeling this summer’s swimsuits.

“This is great,” said Norm Levine, an Israeli who lives in North Hollywood. “It really shows the diversity of the Jewish people.”

“For us, I guess for a lot of people, it’s a time to reconnect,” said Fradya Rembaum, associate director of the Jewish Federation Council.