‘It’s a great honor,’ says 10-year-old Ben Carasso, the spokeskid of Israel and youngest person ever to light a torch at Israel’s Independence Day ceremony
Ben Carasso, only ten years old, has been chosen to be the youngest torchbearer in the history of the State of Israel.
In the run-up to the Independence Day ceremony, Carasso shared his feelings in an interview with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News: “It’s really emotional, it’s a great honor, an honor to be with all the other amazing torchbearers, with their amazing stories. It is really, really moving.”
Regarding the moment when he was notified, Carasso said, “I was at home, my mother told me that someone wanted to talk to me. I took the call, and Minister Miri Regev informed me that I had been given the honor of lighting a torch.”
Carasso is involved in Israeli advocacy (hasbara) on social media: “I advocate for Israel on social media. As part of this, I’ve flown to many countries, met with various organizations, with children and adults, and explained to them what’s really happening and how I see it through the eyes of a child. It’s the same as for my advocacy videos on social media.”
When asked if he is not losing out on his childhood by being involved in this advocacy, Carasso answered honestly: “I am still a child, I still play. But Israeli do not have a normal childhood. I feel that I have to do my part, because I do not feel that I have a normal childhood, and neither do my friends. It is difficult for us Israeli children, we can have fun, but we still do not have a normal childhood, such as waking up in the middle of the night to sirens and running to the safe room, and then having to go to school the next morning. That is not a normal childhood.”
Carasso describes the challenges of advocacy in front of hostile audiences: “There are pro-Palestinians who curse me. I made a video in Times Square in New York during my last advocacy campaign in the US and suddenly someone came up to me and cursed me just because I made a video. There are the pro-Palestinians who exaggerate the most, there are pro-Israelis and there are those in the middle who know nothing – which is the majority – and I try to talk to them and explain the situation here to them.”
On the difference between official propaganda and a child’s propaganda, he said, “As a child, I can tell the world how the children feel about this war, because we are also experiencing it. I can also explain to other children in the world that they can also be influential – things that only children understand.”
According to Carasso, children also have a real impact: “After I talk to children and adults, they thank me for convincing them, for explaining the situation to them, and that we can try to help in any way possible.”
Finally, Carasso delivered a message for Independence Day: “Stay strong, we are strong and Am Yisrael Chai.”
