Backstreet Boys and Jay Leno visiting, the IDF improving and more…This week from Israel

Celebrating 66 years of independence

On Tuesday, Israel celebrated its 66th independence day with 24 hours of celebrations that started on Monday night. The streets of every city were colored in blue and white, fireworks lit the sky and famous artists performed on stages set in various location. On Tuesday, many Israelis headed out to the national parks for the traditional Independence Day barbecue. At the same time, President Peres marked the country's 66th year by honoring 120 outstanding soldiers and singing songs, the IDF opened its bases to the public, the IAF held an aerial display across the Israeli sky and contesters from across the world competed at the International Bible Contest.

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Remembering them all

On Tuesday, Israelis bowed their heads in memory of the 23,169 men and women, Fallen Israeli Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism. The night before, a nRememberew application named ing Them All was released and distributed for free by the Defense Ministry on its IDF memorial site. The app lets users scan the memorial stones at Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery and bring up an information page on the soldier buried there. The app uses pictures, text and video to help Israelis learn the personal stories of IDF soldiers who fell in battle defending the country.

Read more he first three months of 2014, a record number of 776,000 tourists were lucky enough to enjoy the unique beauty of Israel. Now, you can take their word and come visit, but before you do, make sure you download some of these tourism applications to you smartphone, so you can get the most out of your trip.