This is the front page of the newspaper Maariv from April 23, 1958, the day before the tenth anniversary of the State of Israel. The page describes the preparations for a military parade in Jerusalem and also includes photographs of tanks, soldiers from the infantry and the navy, and women soldiers.
One of the pieces details US pressure on Israel to cancel the parade due, ostensibly, to the sensitive security situation in Jerusalem at the time. Another piece goes on to explain that Foreign Minister Abba Eban was not prepared to give in to American pressure.
The military parade, named the “Parade of the Decade,” took place in Jerusalem on April 24, 1958. It began at the Hebrew University stadium in Givat Ram and continued through the streets of Jerusalem. Tanks were included in the parade in violation of the armistice agreements, and Jordan therefore declared a state of emergency in East Jerusalem and even deployed tanks in the area. Fearing a military flare-up between Israel and Jordan, the United States considered evacuating its citizens from Israel, but finally the parade passed without incident.
The early IDF Independence Day parades were initially greeted with great enthusiasm; during the first parade the soldiers were unable to march due to the over-exuberance of the crowd. The parades were, however, discontinued after the Yom Kippur War.
Another headline on this page states the onset of Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers). In the first two years of the State, memorial ceremonies had taken place on Independence Day itself. However, due to requests from bereaved families, David Ben-Gurion convened a committee which decided to use the precedent set by Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi and to mark this day on the 4th Iyar, the day before Independence Day. This was set in law by the Knesset in 1963. This issue of holding such a solemn day just before the celebratory Independence Day remains controversial to this day.
Another headline at the bottom of the page quotes Churchill as saying: “Following with wonder the brave and dynamic Israel.” The quotation from Churchill’s memoirs expresses his loyalty to Zionism since the days of the Balfour Declaration and states how impressed he was by the creation of Israel from a nation of refugees. Churchill is quoted as seeing the danger facing Israel from its neighbours who cannot or do not want to be “moderate” and demanding that Israel be given the chance to contribute its knowledge, industriousness, and productivity to all of the Middle East. Finally, In reference to Jewish immigration during the years of the British Mandate, Churchill states that while he condemns the terrorism that took place, he cannot fault the resolve and determination demonstrated by the Jewish People.
