Israel Defense Forces parade

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

The Israel Defense Forces still has weapon exhibitions country-wide on Independence Day, but they are stationary and have a limited scale. The first ever IDF parade in years was held on Jerusalem Day 1997 to mark the golden jubilee since independence and the 30th anniversary of the IDF capture of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Parade locations

MIM-23 Hawk anti-aircraft missiles in a military parade in Tel Aviv, 1965

Year	Location
1948	Tel Aviv
1949	Tel Aviv
1950	Jerusalem
1951	Jerusalem
1952	Tel Aviv
1953	Haifa
1954	Ramla^[3]
1955	Tel Aviv, Beersheba, Afula^[4]
1956	Haifa
1957	Tel Aviv
1958	Jerusalem
1959	Tel Aviv
1960	Haifa
1961	Jerusalem
1962	Tel Aviv
1963	Haifa
1964	Beersheba^[5]
1965	Tel Aviv
1966	Haifa
1967	Jerusalem
1968	Jerusalem
1973	Jerusalem

References

^ Man, Nadav (December 13, 2008). "1st IDF Parade from Behind the Lens". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
^ Adi Sherzer, "Israeli Militarism Reconsidered: Reframing the Independence Day Parade" Israel Studies Review 36.2 (2021), 87-106
^ At the request of David Ben-Gurion, the parade was held in an immigrant town, which was Ramla at the time.
^ In 1955, three parades were held in different locations, although the Tel Aviv parade was by far the largest and attracted an audience of over half a million. Afula's parade attracted 70,000 viewers, while Beersheba's, only 15,000.
^ The parade was meant to commence in Jerusalem, but the new prime minister, Levi Eshkol, feared a Jordanian uproar and moved it to Beersheba.

[1] Man, Nadav (December 13, 2008). "1st IDF Parade from Behind the Lens". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2008-12-13.

[2] Adi Sherzer, "Israeli Militarism Reconsidered: Reframing the Independence Day Parade" Israel Studies Review 36.2 (2021), 87-106

[Ramla_parade-3] At the request of David Ben-Gurion, the parade was held in an immigrant town, which was Ramla at the time.

[Three_locations-4] In 1955, three parades were held in different locations, although the Tel Aviv parade was by far the largest and attracted an audience of over half a million. Afula's parade attracted 70,000 viewers, while Beersheba's, only 15,000.

[Beersheba_parade-5] The parade was meant to commence in Jerusalem, but the new prime minister, Levi Eshkol, feared a Jordanian uproar and moved it to Beersheba.

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