Israel's torch-lighting state ceremony celebrating the country's 74th Independence Day began on Wednesday evening.
The torch lighters included:
- Kalman Samuels, founder of the Shalva organization
- Yael Srar, the head of the lobby for the war against sexual abuse
- Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoram Yair, chairman of Yahad – United for Israel's Soldiers
- Mika and Ori Banki, the parents of Shira Banki who was murdered at the Jerusalem Pride Parade in 2015
- Idan Kleinman, the chairman of the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization
- Elizabeta Sherstyuk, a Jewish Ukrainian who heads the Chesed Chaim Humanitarian Aid Center
- Asael Shabo, a survivor of a terrorist attack and Paralympian
- H., the commander of Israel Police's counter-terrorism unit
- Dr. Simcha Gathon, director of the Center for the Legacy of Ethiopian Jewry, and Angel Alon who provided a foster home for 217 babies and children
- Munir Madi – founder and head of the pre-military preparatory school “Kerem-El” in Daliyat al-Carmel
- Rita, a famous Israeli singer
- First Lieutenant Hadar Cohen, the commander of the Olot company at the Michve Alon training base