Israel’s Independence Day begins the moment Remembrance Day ends – a stark reminder that independence would not exist without those who gave their lives to secure it.
Each year at 8pm a siren sounds to mark what Israelis call “Yom Hazikaron” and, wherever they are, they stop and stand in silence to honour those who have fallen in battle and victims of terror.
Since the country’s founding in 1948, few Israelis have been left untouched by the loss of loved ones in military conflict: from the War of Independence, to the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the wars in Lebanon, the intifadas, and the war with Hamas in Gaza. So many wars for such a tiny country.
October 7 was the first major national trauma experienced fully in the age of smartphones, social media and constant connectivity.
There was literally no way to fully shield young people from it.
Even in the most careful homes, images of and conversations about the war found their way through.
For children, it’s been deeply visual and more than traumatic.
Released Israeli hostages (L to R) Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Liri Albag, and Daniella Gilboa observe from above a musical performance in their honour by the "Lu Yehi" social music initiative at Beilinson Hospital in the Rabin Medical Centre in Petah Tikva in central Israel on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images
Hostage posters became part of everyday scenery. They appeared on bus stops, shops, the airport, school gates, traffic lights and synagogues. Entire streets turned into galleries showing faces of the missing. Children walking to school passed walls filled with photographs of kidnapped toddlers, grandparents, parents and teenagers.
What they saw prompted simple and innocent yet devastating questions of the adults around them.
At home, even when parents tried to filter the news, it was impossible to shield children from the atmosphere in the country. Yet even the bloodshed of that day has not broken the country’s resolve. Israelis are traumatised, yes, but in many ways strengthened. Who can forget the images of thousands of abandoned vehicles of reservists as they voluntarily made their way to their base on October 7 to fight the terrorists who had infiltrated Israel?
For two decades the country has increasingly seen itself as a high-tech powerhouse with a globalised economy and at least some lingering optimism about peace. Now it’s about survival. At the time of going to press, the fighting with Hezbollah and Iran had paused, but the ceasefire was fragile.
For Israelis, the sense is not of war ending, but of it being put on hold. The northern front remains tense, in Gaza it’s still bubbling under the surface and the threat from Iranian proxies remains unresolved – yet restaurants are full and beaches crowded. Israelis have learnt to move in and out of war footing with striking speed, pausing life when necessary and resuming it when they can.
When Iran hit the tourist spot of the UAE, Israelis had a lot of empathy for those there not used to aggression.
GREENVALE, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 06: Edan Alexander accepts the Honor Award by video during the 2025 Fox Nation Patriot Awards at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on November 06, 2025 in Greenvale, New York. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)Getty Images
Children in Israel grow up with parents who have served and they are accustomed to sirens and air-raid shelters. Then they reach adulthood and put on the uniform themselves. As one 18-year-old girl awaiting the draft said: “I worry what the future will hold surrounded by so many people who want to kill us, but we will continue to thrive even though we have experienced such a huge loss. I’ve been to so many funerals and I’m sick of it – I should not have gone to so many funerals at 18 years old. I am proud of my identity and I will fight for us.”
Such thoughts are common among young girls in Israel.
Resilience has passed from generation to generation. For all the heartbreak of recent years, the message from many Israelis is simple: they are going nowhere and will do whatever it takes to endure. Of course, this does not encompass everyone. Some Israelis have left the country in the last few years. (There has been a sharp rise in departures since the October 7 attacks, although it is too early to know how many have emigrated permanently.)
Then there are the younger children, many of whom still wake up in fear when sirens pierce the night.
Different parts of the country will, of course, react in different ways.
If you’re from the north of Israel, then until very recently you would have had to put up with a 100 rockets a day threatening the lives of you and your family.
Along the border with Gaza, even before October 7, many children will have spent much of their lives running to the shelter. Many kids are known to suffer from PTSD.
A person looks at a memorial for October 7th victims next to blue balloons in the fountain in Dizengoff Square on Yom Ha'atzmaut on May 14, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel (Getty Images)Getty Images
A mother of two boys age three and five says: “They have just learnt to live around the booms and found a way to make it fun, joking with the neighbours, they just needed me to feel safe and adjusted, find happiness and playdates.”
Yet ask a group of 11-year-olds how they feel when the siren goes off and all four dismiss any sense of fear or danger.
“I am not scared at all. Not at all.”
“Not even scared of rockets?”
“Yes, but the horrible men trying to kill us won’t win.”
Take former hostage Liri Albag. Aged 18 when she was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base during the Hamas attack and held in Gaza for 477 days, she was released in January 2025 as part of a hostage deal. Five months later, she made the extraordinary decision to return to the army and complete her service. Her father said she wanted to take on a “very meaningful position”, reflecting a desire to continue serving despite everything she endured. She is not alone. Ori Megidish was 19 when she was abducted on October 7. Rescued from Gaza in a military operation, she returned to finish her service in the IDF.
Corporal Ori Megidish (centre) with family [Missing Credit]
She stated it was important for her to show she would not give up and felt compelled to continue serving and completed her full two-year service.
Edan Alexander, who was held as a hostage for 584 days, has also returned to service, publicly vowing: “My story does not end with survival; it continues with service. I wanted [Hamas] to see I’ll never break and that I’ll return the favour. You gave me hell? I’ll give you hell.”
And Maxim Herkin, freed after more than two years in captivity, returned to his unit to reunite with comrades and speak at an awards ceremony soon after his release to thank his fellow officers for saving him.
After the Holocaust and centuries of persecution in Europe and the Middle East, Israel’s founding vision centred on a safe homeland for Jewish people.
After what’s perceived as recent non-stop attacks on Jews in the UK and around the world, the Israeli youth of today see the wisdom of this vision.
One 19-year-old says: “Our parents tell us it’s safer for us to holiday in the United Arab Emirates than it is in Europe. It seems that the police in UAE take antisemitism more seriously.”
An 18-year-old oleh from Britain says: “The terrible antisemitism in the UK is proof that we need to keep our homeland stronger.”
Every day seems to bring news that only reinforces this view. Hearing of the attempted arson attack on Kenton Synagogue, another recent arrival from the UK exclaimed: “Our shul. Kristallnacht has arrived.”
Israel is changing, its politics fractious and its demographics changing. Yet the country that pauses together each year between grief and independence still shares a common understanding. As Israelis, they are part of a story that will last as long as the rocks and the deserts in which they built their cities and homes.
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