
 Prime Minister  Binyamin Netanyahu kicked off Israel’s 62nd birthday as a modern state with a  clear message to the world that the united city of Jerusalem is not up for  grabs. The same theme was pounded home by Knesset Speaker and veteran leader  Reuven Rivlin.
The holiday began with traditional torch lighting  ceremonies, the most prominent being at Har Herzl military cemetery in  Jerusalem. Those who were given the honor to light the torches included  91-year-old Sarah Shpechner, who was a Palmach parachutist in Europe during the  Nazi occupation.
Former IDF colonel Tzvi Levanon, now age 79 and director  of the HaGanah Veterans Association, 84-year-old Avraham Greenzeid, who fought  the Nazis as an officer in the Soviet Red army, and Ethiopian immigrant and IDF  officer Major Doctor Avraham Yitzchak, also were among the torch lighters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released statement that referred to the capital, stating that “We are here because this is our land. We've returned to our land, to our city - Jerusalem - because this is our land; this is our city.”
Without referring to Jerusalem per se, he said that Israel must deal “with the core issues at the heart of the conflict" with the Palestinian Authority, meaning the status of Jerusalem and the PA demand to allow the immigration of millions of Arab claiming ancestry in Israel.
Speaker Rivlin warned against “fatal segregation” of Arabs and  Jews, and secular and hareidi religious Jews, in Jerusalem  
In  contradiction to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statements to the Cabinet Sunday  morning that Israel does not have to consider the demands of outsiders, meaning  the United States and Europe, to divide Jerusalem, Defense Minister Ehud Barak  said Monday, “The tension that is developing with the United States is not in  Israel's interest."