Shapiro was to speak at the event, along with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyau and President Shimon Peres.
Musical interludes were to be provided by Ronnie Lawson singing the Star-Spangled Banner and Ariel Kapach Hatikva, as well as performances by a jazz ensemble from the Israel Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv and a polyphony quartet from the Polyphony Foundation in Nazareth. New York-born American-Israeli singer Bridgitte Raven was also to sing a medley of American classics.