by KYW's Hadas Kuznits, reporting from Jerusalem

Israel prepares to celebrate six decades as an independent nation on Thursday.

As Israel prepares to celebrate 60 years of independence, natives like Danny Aleksandrovitch (right) tell me that the country has come a long way in a short period:

"I remember there were many, many (sand) dunes in Tel Aviv."

Yael Dayan (top photo), daughter of Moshe Dayan, one of Israel's founding fathers, says Israel's birth was an exciting time:

(Dayan:)  "I mean, we were in it -- not just observers."

Safrir Eirron, a former member of the illegal Haganah military organization, was born in Palestine in 1930 under the British mandate:

(Eirron:)  "At the time, all the population, we were here. Maximum of 600,000 Jews. Nothing."
  
(Kuznits:)  "Do you remember where you were when Ben-Gurion signed the declaration of independence in Israel?"

(Eirron:)  "All the people were glued to the radio -- those who had radios. We were very happy of course. People began to shout, began to cry."

But the party didn't last long. Less than six months after declaring independence, the young Israel was catapulted into her first war for survival, 1948's war of independence.

(Dayan:)  "So we knew that this (country) was independent, but coupled with a war effort -- and probably a price to pay."

Photos by KYW's Hadas Kuznits

(Photo #1: Yael Dayan stands next to a painting of her father, Moshe Dayan)

See Hadas Kuznits' personal video blog, and listen to KYW Newsradio 1060 all week long for more special reports as Israeli native Hadas Kuznits reports: "Her Homeland at Sixty."