Transportation Minister Miri Regev announced on Sunday that Jewish-American commentator Ben Shapiro will be a ceremonial torchbearer at Israel's Independence Day ceremony on Mount Herzl.
Regev clarified she chose him from among the recommendations of the public advisory committee.
Shapiro, who self-identifies as an Orthodox Jew, is an outspoken supporter of Israel and is considered one of the most influential Jews in the world, with more than 20 million followers on social media.
He is the founding editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire and host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” a conservative podcast, which is ranked second in the United States by Podtrac.
The commentator has written numerous non-fiction books. He earned a BA in Political Science from UCLA in 2004 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 2007. Shapiro became at age 17 the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the US.
The ceremony
Yom HaAtzma'ut will begin at sundown on Wednesday, 30 April 2025, and end at nightfall on Thursday, 1 May 2025.
Regev announced earlier on Sunday that she has also chosen Oren Smadja and former Israeli hostage Emily Damari to be among the torchbearers at the Independence Day ceremony on Mount Herzl.
Smadja, a former judoka and coach of the Israeli national judo team, is the winner of the country's second Olympic medal in its history.
