The annual Independence Day Torch-lighting Ceremony began Tuesday evening at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
The ceremony marks the transition from Memorial Day to Independence Day.
This year, Israel is celebrating its 75th Independence Day its rebirth as a sovereign state in the historic Jewish homeland.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana will officiate the ceremony. Twelve torches will be lit, symbolizing the twelve tribes of ancient Israel.
Rabbi Leo Dee, whose wife and daughters were murdered in a terrorist shooting attack in the Jordan Valley during Passover, began the ceremony by reciting the traditional Yizkor mourner's prayer.
The organizers of the ceremony are preparing for the possibility that the event could be disrupted by demonstrators protesting the government's planned judicial reforms, and have prepared an announcement to be broadcast to attendees if this occurs.