Israel's 50th anniversary celebrations got under way last night, in an entirely characteristic atmosphere of pride, argument and fear. The Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, called his country "the greatest success story of the 20th century".
And most of its 5,940,000 citizens - as compared to 806,000 in 1948 - prepared to celebrate over a two-day independence holiday peppered with fireworks displays, anniversary concerts and torchlighting ceremonies, culminating in a gala event in Jerusalem tonight to be attended by the US Vice-President, Mr Al Gore.
But disputes over the nature of those celebrations - disputes which reflect the polarisation of Israeli society - continued to flare. In recent weeks there have been complaints about the disproportionate spending on anniversary events in the West Bank settlements, about the absence of the historic Yitzhak Rabin-Yasser Arafat 1993 handshake from the lavish official video review of modern Israeli history, about the lack of representation for women and for artists of Sephardi, Middle-Eastern origin in the government-sponsored events.
Though many of these mini-crises have been defused, more trouble erupted yesterday, when ultra-Orthodox politicians began pressing for the censorship of tonight's centrepiece Jerusalem gala - seeking to have a dance routine amended because it involves partial disrobing, an impressionist's act cut because the satire is directed at a leading rabbi, and a stage set remodelled to eliminate a cross from the skyline.
Some Orthodox politicians are threatening a coalition crisis over the issue; moderate legislators are accusing them of waging "a culture war" against free expression.
The internal friction over Israel's religious direction was underlined elsewhere yesterday, as the country held memorial services for its fallen soldiers.
Mr Meir Porush, an ultra-Orthodox deputy cabinet minister who represented the government at one graveside service, was heckled and jeered by bereaved relatives angered that many ultra-Orthodox Jews evade military service.
"We can't even unite in mourning," said one participant bitterly. TV cameras also filmed ultra-Orthodox citizens going about their business as usual when the rest of the country came to a standstill as a siren blared in mourning for the dead.
The 50th anniversary events began last night, with scarcely a pause, at the conclusion of memorial services for the fallen soldiers and, for the first time, for the victims of acts of terrorism.
But the seamless transition was deceptive: few people here believe the military death toll has come to a final halt at 18,748.
Indeed, the awareness that further conflict is now a real threat - with the Palestinians, and possibly with other Arab countries as peace hopes founder - is casting a long shadow over the jubilee festivities.
In fear of suicide attacks by Islamic militants, Israel has sealed off the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and is deploying thousands of police and soldiers to provide security for the main anniversary events.
Confirming the fears, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the Hamas militants, was quoted in a newspaper interview yesterday saying his movement's main short-term aim was to "intensify resistance and step up strikes against the occupying enemy".
Next week, in London, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Arafat are to hold separate talks with the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, in yet another "last ditch" attempt to save the peace process. In various Hebrew newspaper interviews to mark Independence Day, Mr Netanyahu spoke in grandiose terms of his aspirations to achieve peace for Israel with all its neighbours.
And yet, in setting out his recipe for such accords, he insisted, for example, that Israel would seek to maintain all the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a foothold in the Jordan Valley, and the presence of Jews in the heart of Hebron. Reflecting on the likely future of his own six-year-old son, he said he anticipated that conscription would still be necessary when Yair reached military age.
Given the instability of the region, Mr Netanyahu said, peace, even if it was achieved, would have to be "an armed peace".