The Israel Defense Forces parade was an event during the first 25 years of the State of Israel's existence to celebrate its military might. It was cancelled after 1973 due to financial concerns.
The first IDF parade took place during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, on July 27, 1948, on Allenby Street and Ben Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv.
The second parade took place in 1949, on Israel's first independence day, in Tel Aviv. It failed in the process because the overenthusiastic crowd burst into the parade ground. It was nicknamed "The parade that did not march".
Starting with the third parade in 1950, annual parades were held on the country's independence day, ending in 1968. Citing financial concerns, it was then decided that the parade should only be held on special occasions. The last IDF parade thus took place in 1973, on Israel's 25th birthday.
The Israel Defense Forces still has weapon exhibitions country-wide on Independence Day, but they are stationary and have a limited scale.
Read more about Israel Defense Forces Parade: Parade Locations
Famous quotes containing the words israel, defense, forces and/or parade:
“appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Samuel 8:5.
Leaders of ancient Israel asking the last of the judges, Samuel, to appoint a king.
“For there is no defense for a man who, in the excess of his wealth, has kicked the great altar of Justice out of sight.”
—Aeschylus (525–456 B.C.)
“There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe ... the sun in the heavens and the Associated Press down here.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“We are becoming like cats, slyly parasitic, enjoying an indifferent domesticity. Nice and snug in “the social” our historic passions have withdrawn into the glow of an artificial cosiness, and our half-closed eyes now seek little other than the peaceful parade of television pictures.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)