The Torch Lighting Ceremony this evening (Monday) concludes the Yom Hazikaron events and starts the Yom Ha'atzmaut celebrations. The official ceremony is expected to be different in content due to the events of October 7 and the war. The ceremony was filmed and recorded in advance.
The ceremony will be hosted by Channel 14 anchor Magi Tabibi and Channel 12's southern correspondent Tamir Steinman.
The ceremony itself will open with the lighting of 12 torches in memory of the Israelis and foreigners who were murdered and fell in the war. The torches will be lit in Sderot, Ofakim, and other cities, as well as in the Re'im parking lot where the Supernova festival was held.
At the beginning of the ceremony, a recorded speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be broadcast. Along with 12 memorial torches, 12 torches of bravery will also be lit. To conclude, the last torch among the 12 will be a missing torch to mark the 132 men and women still held by Hamas in Gaza.
The torches of the security forces will be carried by Major Shavit Ben-Moshe, who continued to fight on October 7 even after being informed of his brother Ariel's death, the Southern District Police Chief Superintendent Amir Cohen, and one anonymous agent each from the Mossad and ISA. MDA paramedic Oshrit Hadad, United Hatzalah volunteer Dr. Tamar Shelzinger, ZAKA volunteer Nurit Eran Cohen, and fire station commander Yoel Demri will carry the Rescue Forces Torch together.
Nasrin Yosef from Meitad (who recused herself), Rabbi Shahar Butchatch from Ofakim, Yosef Elziedaneh from Rahat, and Rami Davidian from Patish were chosen to carry a torch together, representing the bravery of the rescuers. The civilian emergency squad's torch will be held by Inbal Liberman from Kibbutz Nir Am, Barak Shalom from Kibutz Allumim, Avihai Elia from Hava't Yair, and Tal Levit from Metula. The Public Diplomacy Torch will be carried by Yosef Haddad and Ella Keinan, as representatives of the Israeli public diplomacy.