April 26, 2004
The Best Ever Yom Haatzmaut Celebration

The evening began with a VIP reception that included a veritable Who's Who of British Jewry. The heads of The Board of Deputies, WIZO, JNF, UJIA, Jewish Agency, and WZO were all present together with a great many more dignitaries like Sir Sigmund Sternberg, Lady Valerie Cocks and, of course, the charge d'affairs and acting Israel Ambassador Zvi Ravner.

After a few words from the Ambassador and ZF President Professor Eric Moonman, a capacity crowd of around 3,500 filled Wembley Conference centre to see and hear the magnificent celebratory concert. A welcome from Alan Aziz the ZF director and a few well chosen and encouraging words from the Head of the Department for Zionist Activities of the WZO, Dr. David Breakstone began the evening.

The concert, which was a tribute to the many artists who had become Israeli entertainment stars while coming up through the ranks of the army, was preceded by short videos from the ZF and from the main sponsors - The Jewish Agency, JNF, UJIA as well as other supporters -WIZO, Board of Deputies and El Al. On a giant screen, excerpts were shown from record breaking Israeli films and newsreels including Topol. A huge male voice choir accompanied the star of the evening, Dudu Fisher, in a rendition of Exodus. Dudu then told of how his dad had hoped his son would not have to fight in the army and how he had had similar hopes for his son. A great band accompanied a great crowd of Israeli singers. There was a wonderful 'Fidler on the Roof' excerpt enhanced by the Kidanza dancers, accompanied by the choirs from Akiva and Sinai schools. A roar went up from the crowd when Dudu Fisher appeared again for a rendition of 'If I Was A Rich Man'. David Deor then gave a demonstration of the most wonderful singing heard here in a long time. David, who will be representing Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest this year, is, incredibly, just as happy in the tenor range as he is in singing soprano. (He made it plain that no scalpel had ever touched his person.) David really got the audience going, joining in, and singing for peace - an amazing world class artiste. The high point of the evening was Dudu Fisher's return to the stage to sing a duet with David, different from anything ever heard before in that Dudu did The Phantom while David did Sarah Brightman. Truly an amazing musical experience!

So wonderful was the evening that after an arousing Hatikvah, it was hard to get the hall cleared as the audience just stood around, wanting to savor just a few more minutes of an inspiring evening!