Life in 21st Century Israel

    
by KYW's Hadas Kuznits, reporting from Jerusalem

Israel celebrates its 60th independence day this week. The intensity of life in Israel makes the natives here who they are, says Marta Mozes (right), a Tel Aviv University student from Lower Merion, Pa.:

"I think because of the army, Israelis take advantage of life more."

Danny Aleksandrovitch (left), a seventh-generation Israeli, explains what he thinks makes the country unique:

"The history -- no doubt about it."

But as Yael Dayan (below right) -- deputy mayor of Tel Aviv and daughter of founding father Moshe Dayan -- says, in many ways Israel is just like any other country:

"The homeless and the drug addicts and the battered women. And the coexistence between the Arabs and the Jews.  All this is welfare, and I deal also with the foreign workers."

(Kuznits:)  "The social issues might not look exactly the same, but (Israelis) have the same issues that everybody else does."

(Dayan:)  "They certainly do."

But Israel has had more waves of immigration than your average young nation:

(Dayan:)  "From 600,000 (population) in 1948, to now 7-point-something million."

The influx of people has led to much development over Israel's 60-year lifetime, and Dayan believes the future has a lot more in store.

(Dayan:)  "Let's not wait another 60 years for the really good, important things to happen."

(Kuznits:)  "Like peace in the Middle East?"

(Dayan:)  "Between Israel and the Palestinians."

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."   

(Photos by KYW's Hadas Kuznits)