Herzliya: Infiltrating the July 4 Celebrations in the City

In all likelihood, Iyar 5* doesn’t mean a thing to Americans, but July 4 means a whole lot to Israelis. Last week, hundreds of Sharon residents drank to the American Independence Day as if they were born there. Tomer Keren infiltrated the liveliest scene in Herzliya and compiled myriad reasons for the parties. God bless America!

Wow, how much do we love America! What would we be ready to do in order to become the 51st star on the American flag.... Nevertheless, no matter whether we want it or not, we are an integral part of the Middle East, far away from Uncle Sam.

In spite of the thousands of miles between us, July 4 — celebrated this week in the Bourbon Street pub in Herzliya Pituach,** within spitting distance of the residence of Barack Obama’s representative in the Holy Land — was closest to the real thing.

In Sharon,*** hundreds of Israeli citizens commemorated the 235th Independence Day of our big sister in the most grandiose form possible. Even on Israel’s Independence Day, taking place each year on Iyar 5, you can’t see such celebration.

“The Israelis realize that America, even with all of the criticism of Obama, is our best friend, and without it, we don’t have a right to existence here,” explains Adi Hakami, owner of Bourbon Street, the distilled joy of the celebrants. “In a certain sense, America’s Independence Day is also our Independence Day. This is another reason to throw a party.”

Bourbon Street was the not the only epicenter of the July 4 feasts. At different locations in the Sharon neighborhood, a great deal of fellow Israelis partied to salute the American Independence Day. “It is important to Israelis to say thank you to America for everything it’s giving them,” comments Marilyn Ronen, who made aliyah [immigrated] to Israel 25 years ago. “And our thanks is in joining the celebrations of the Americans.”

In Israel, Everything Is Corrupted

Last Monday, 11:30 p.m., Bourbon Street pub, Herzliya Pituach. Hakami, the pub’s owner, shows up onstage and knocks out an electrifying performance of “Born in the USA” (without shaming the king Springsteen) and gives the signal to launch the celebration of America’s Independence Day.

The party in the pilgrimage mountain pub, held New Orleans-style, attracted around 300 people, nearly all of them Israelis looking for a good excuse to get out of the house in the middle of the week and proudly fly the American flag.

When Electric Blue and Jam in the Holy Land appeared on stage, waitresses wrapped in American flags danced on the tables, while beautiful girls splashed in the pool by the entrance with a beer in one hand and a U.S. flag in the other.

At this moment, everybody could have imagined that they were in the land of unlimited opportunities. “I love America and am dying to fly there,” divulges Moran Aharon, 23, from Herzliya Pituach. “There’s the best music over here, the best movies. From my point of view, that is the Promised Land.”

And what about Israel? "Don’t bother, everything is corrupt here,” she mutters. “I wish that the United States would conquer us, and we’d be Americans in every respect.”

Adrian, the American bartender, pours me a small beer and winks. “That’s all right, man. Everything’s cool. Israelis and Americans are the best friends in the world. We understand each other, we celebrate together. We’ve got a partnership for life.”

The American Independence Day was also celebrated at Black restaurant. For this purpose, chef Tzahi Buksheshter prepared the country’s biggest hamburger, weighing in at 1.1 kg.

On this festive day, the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel has organized a huge event at Kraft Stadium next to the Soldier’s House in Jerusalem. The rich menu included music, mainly rhythm & blues and country, concerts, sports competitions for the whole family, games and food stands. According to the organizers’ assessment, more than 3,000 people took part in the event, half of whom were from the Sharon area.

Singer Susie Miller, herself an American legend, was a star of the program. “I am glad to perform before Israelis who love America, and especially if they celebrate or mark in any way July 4,” she said. "When I see the flags of the United States and Israel fluttering together, I fill up with pride. America and Israel are sister countries that help one another, even if there is a president at times who doesn't like Israel so much."

Miller knows a thing or two about loyalty to two states. “I am also a dual patriot. I have a love story with two countries: the U.S. and Israel. I love the two of them from the depths of my heart.”

Personally, how does she celebrate the American Independence Day? “Once, I lived it up every July 4 with several friends I made in the States. However, some of them returned to America, and the company fell apart. Today, in order to celebrate, I turn on Fox News and remember how I did that back in America. We had a barbeque in the yard and invited friends and family members to our place; singing, listening to music and dancing. There were fireworks at night and marches on the streets during the day.”

Onn Levy, a Ra’anana resident, is on Israel-U.S. flights a lot. He takes off there any time he wants to visit his brother Gil, who lives in Beverly Hills. “I’m crazy about the United States. Everything there is larger than life, like in a movie, and for people who like shopping, it’s a wonderful thing,” he says passionately. “In Israel, during sales, they raise the price in order to drop it. Over there are real sales. A $48 shirt is sold at $6."

So, everything comes down to the price of a shirt? “As time passes by, you see that almost every American thing is found in Israel, too. But there is still something hypnotizing in the United States. In the shopping malls, you can see the size, the power and the distances. Besides that, there is American politeness. A water park could be busy and crammed full, and yet you won’t resort to cursing and getting angry like in an Israeli water park. This is a different culture.”

More Joyous Than the Americans

The younger and Obama's-age generations were not the only ones to take part in the American Independence Day celebrations. Some of the assisted living homes in Sharon observed the special occasion with an American-style lunch accompanied by an appearance by a country singer.

“Many a year we’ve been greeting the U.S. Independence Day among the bunch of English speakers: Americans, British and also South Americans,” says Marilyn Ronen, who immigrated to Israel from the United States 25 years ago.

“A slew of Israelis have come because most of us are married to Israelis. We were accustomed to grilling in the yard and celebrating.” When Ronen is asked about the Israeli ritual of honoring the American Independence Day, she opines that this is how the Israelis express their gratitude to the United States.

“A few years ago, I saw children at the intersections distributing Israeli flags as well as American ones on the Independence Day of Israel. That looked so funny to me. There are Israelis to whom this day is more important than to the Americans. My daughter called to ask whether I could babysit for her. She completely forgot it’s July 4.”

Michael Shichor, a resident of Kfar Malal who spent years in the U.S., argues that the Israelis are familiar with the world's greatest superpower only through movies and tourism websites and are not exactly knowledgeable about the American lifestyle. “I’ve attended numerous parties for the American Independence Day around the entire world and haven’t seen such joy and happiness about American independence as in the Israeli ones,” he shares.

“I get it that the guests in the house of the American ambassador are into the festivities, but the citizens who have no connection at all with the U.S. — exalting its independence? That’s beyond my grasp. There are some Israelis arriving from Russia or Colombia who observe the independence days of their respective countries, but you won’t see Israelis massively celebrating the independence of Colombia."

Shichor is positive, too, that the Israelis’ jubilations on July 4 are coming from a place of expressing appreciation and thankfulness for America’s support. “It is true that recently, the connection has been a bit shaken, but nonetheless, it is very strong. Our culture is American.”

“We listen to songs in English and watch movies in English. We rush to see the American B-movies and don’t go for the high-quality French ones. Bibi [Benjamin Netanyahu] is considered the greatest of our PR men for the mere reason of him being an excellent English speaker — and it does not matter what it is that he delivers.”

A survey conducted in the last year concerning immigration objectives revealed that 85 percent of Israelis would be willing to immigrate to the United States. “Because not everyone can live in the United States, so they celebrate its Independence Day and feel like [its] citizens for the moment,” recaps Shichor.

”A majority of Israelis do not really know the U.S. and idealize life there. We see grand houses and fancy cars and don’t gather that the genuine America is outside of Hollywood. You’ll find almost no Israelis in Texas or Memphis — though that is real heart of America."


*Translator's Note: The date of the proclamation of the State of Israel according to the Hebrew calendar.

**Translator's Note: A prestigious sea resort, one of Israel's most affluent districts, location of embassies and private residences of foreign diplomats, businessmen, etc.

***Translator's Note: A geographical area in Israel, part of the coastal plain.