More than 24 thousand disraelis have died creating and defending this country. And almost everyone here knows some one is related to some one who died in one of the wars. So, memorial day is not a holiday. It's really a sombre day where people remember their loved ones. But as soon as yomasi coron ends this evening, the parties start because it's its independence day.
In October 1973, an unhappy Leonard Cohen was listening to the radio on his Greek island home when he heard that Israel was at war. He headed to Tel Aviv, exchanging a personal and creative crisis for a national one. Absent a plan and even a guitar, Cohen wound up serenading Israeli soldiers at the front. Journalist Matti Friedman talks about his book Who by Fire with EconTalk host Russ Roberts and explains how a songwriter and a nation were transformed in the crucible of war.