2 New Sheqalim Independence - The Golden Years

Israel's Independence Day coin series has commemorated a different national theme each year since the early 1950s, making it one of the longest-running annual commemorative programs of any modern state. The 2005 issue marked 57 years of independence — an unremarkable numerical anniversary by most standards, but the "Golden Years" theme reflected a broader cultural conversation in Israel at the time about immigration waves, particularly the mass aliyah from the former Soviet Union that had reshaped Israeli demographics through the 1990s.