Introspective Israel turns 60

On the eve of Israel’s 60th anniversary, its two chief rabbis issued an audacious demand: Cancel the International Bible Quiz for Jewish teenagers, a popular highlight of the annual Independence Day celebration.

The reason? An Israeli finalist, 17-year-old Bat-El Levi, had been revealed as a Messianic, one who believes in Jesus as the messiah. Most Jews consider Messianics to be Christians.

“It is unacceptable,” the rabbis wrote, “that a member of a cult that has removed itself from the Jewish faith will take part.”

But the nationally televised contest went ahead Thursday with all 16 finalists. Bible Quiz attorneys ruled that the girl, whose mother is Jewish and whose identity papers say she is too, met the strict definition of who is a Jew.

The dispute was about Israel’s identity as well.

As they began celebrating six decades of Jewish national rebirth, Israelis were engaged as intensely as ever in religious, ethnic and political tugs of war and fretting over the future of their state.

Some of the quarreling struck at the heart of the anniversary celebration itself. Nearly 100,000 Israelis signed a petition calling the $28-million price tag a scandalous waste in a country where every third child is poor.

Thousands of Israeli Arabs marched in a solemn countercelebration, depicting Israel’s embattled creation as their nakba, the displacement of Arab families from their homes in 1948. Eleven people were injured in a clash between protesters and police.

Hanging over the holiday was a new corruption inquiry that could unseat Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose fitness to rule has been under assault from rivals for most of his two years in office.

The discord reflects the country’s introspective mood. War, or the threat of war, has clouded every day for Israelis since David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the state as a haven for Jews in the wake of the Holocaust.

Peace with the Palestinians and some of its Arab neighbors remains elusive. Israelis feel threatened by Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Yet in recent polls Israelis say they feel as much or more angst over internal troubles: income inequality, inept and corrupt leadership, inter-communal strife and intolerance between secular and religious Jews.

Kicking off the festivities at sundown Wednesday, parliament speaker Dalia Itzik asked whether Israel, despite its achievements, was becoming a society of “each man against his brother . . . . a callous, suffering and insufferable nation.”

“It is not the wars and our enemies that will overcome us,” she told 6,000 guests at a ceremony on Mount Herzl. “It is us -- we, ourselves -- with our own hands and mouths, who may bring us down to places we don’t want to be.”

The ceremony marked the end of a Memorial Day commemorating the thousands killed in Israel’s conflicts and the start of a two-day celebration of the nation for which they died. Twelve adults, each accompanied by a child, lighted torches symbolizing the anniversary’s theme, “Strengthening Israel’s Children.”

For the most part, Israelis put religion and politics aside as they danced through the night in the glow of fireworks and laser light shows. On Thursday, they set up lounge chairs and barbecue grills outdoors and relaxed with their children as military jets raced overhead, tracing the number 60 with trails of white smoke.

Still, the prime minister’s legal troubles were not far from their minds.

“Personally, I feel sorry for Olmert,” said Chava Goldberg, 77, a lifelong resident of Jerusalem, hours before authorities confirmed that they are looking into whether he took illegal campaign contributions from a Jewish American businessman. “But there’s been too much corruption in recent years. . . . Today’s politicians didn’t have to fight to establish the state and think they deserve everything.”

Nor could Israelis get through the day without a reminder of their deepest chasm, between Jews and the country’s alienated Arab minority.

Israeli Arabs, including 10 parliament members, marched from Nazareth to the ruins of a pre-1948 Arab village to commemorate the displacement. Angered by a court order permitting the march, a smaller group of Israeli Jews organized a picnic along the route and raised Israeli flags when the marchers passed. Some marchers said later they heard taunts of “Death to the Arabs!”

Clashes erupted as the Arab marchers were dispersing. Associated Press television footage showed police firing tear gas at Arab protesters, who chanted “Palestine, Palestine!” Five police officers and six protesters were reported injured.

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boudreaux@latimes.com