Yom Ha'atzma'ut

Independence Day יום העצמאות Yom Ha'atzmaut
An air display in Tel Aviv on Israel's 61st Independence Day
Observed by	Israelis
Celebrations	Displaying the flag of Israel and other national symbols, family meetings, fireworks, barbecues, picnics, concerts
Observances	Mount Herzl ceremony, Ceremonial lighting of the twelve torches, International Bible Contest, Israel Prize ceremony.
Date	5 Iyar (Hebrew calendar)
2016 date	12 May
2017 date	2 May
2018 date	19 April
2019 date	9 May
Related to	Yom Hazikaron Nakba Day

Independence Day (Hebrew: יום העצמאות‎‎ Yom Ha'atzmaut, lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies and observances.

Because Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, which corresponded with the Hebrew date 5 Iyar in that year, Yom Ha'atzmaut was originally celebrated on that date each year. To avoid religious problems, today it is celebrated either on 5 Iyar or on one of the preceding or following days; the day of the week it falls on being the decisive factor. Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day is always scheduled for the day preceding Independence Day.

In the Hebrew calendar, days begin in the evening. The next occurrence of Yom Haatzmaut will take place on 18-19 April 2018.

Independence Day is founded on the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel by the Jewish leadership headed by future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion on 14 May 1948. The mood outside of Ben-Gurion's home just prior to the declaration was joyous:

"The Jews of Palestine ... were dancing because they were about to realize what was one of the most remarkable and inspiring achievements in human history: A people which had been exiled from its homeland two thousand years before, which had endured countless pogroms, expulsions, and persecutions, but which had refused to relinquish its identity—which had, on the contrary, substantially strengthened that identity; a people which only a few years before had been the victim of mankind’s largest single act of mass murder, killing a third of the world’s Jews, that people was returning home as sovereign citizens in their own independent state."

Independence was declared eight hours before the end of the British Mandate of Palestine, which was due to finish on 15 May 1948.

The operative paragraph of the Declaration of the Establishment of State of Israel of 14 May 1948 expresses the declaration to be by virtue of our natural and historic right and on the basis of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly. The operative paragraph concludes with the words of Ben-Gurion, where he thereby declares the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.