On May 14, 1948 the State of Israel was established, amid hard fought battles on all fronts.
Despite the warfare a need was felt to commemorate the establishment of the IDF, and 20 Tamuz, the anniversary of Theodore Herzl's death was chosen to commemorate the Army Day. On that day the IDF demonstrated its might for the first time in the streets of Tel-Aviv: Allenby, Ben-Yehuda to the stadium near the Yarkon River.
As reported in the daily "Davar," the military parade was "The first one since the People of Israel were exiled from their land two thousand years earlier, and the first in the new "State of Israel."
In the next "Army Day," July 17, 1949, alongside the military parades, lineups, receptions and celebrations in the IDF's units, twelve soldiers were decorated with the "Medal of Valor" for their heroic deeds in the War of Independence, eight of whom were alive.
Not everybody thought favorably of holding an "Army Day" on 20 Tamuz. In February 13, 1949, Chief of the Personnel Branch of the General Staff, General Moshe Zadok proposed to celebrate the Army on the date of the Declaration of Independence. His proposal was supported by the Chief of Staff, and by General Eitan Avisra. Nevertheless, the Chief of Staff, Jacob Dori, issued an order fixing 20 Tamuz as the IDF Day. The Order of the Day for June 5, 1949 specified that "20 Tamuz is set as the IDF Day. On this day the army will celebrate annually its establishment, as will be set by the Personnel Branch at the General Staff."
On April 1, 1950, Chief of Staff, Yigal Yadin, directed to hold the day as in previous years, but a month later the direction was canceled. In his diary entry from April 30, 1950 Ben Gurion wrote, "I approached newspapers editors for their opinion about maintaining an Army Day, in addition to the Independence Day, and on Herzl's death anniversary. All of them replied in the negative, opining that 20 Tamuz should remain dedicated to the memory of Herzl, not mixed up with an "Army Day." Some responders opined for a special date, other preferred holding the Army Day on Independence Day."
Therefore, Ben Gurion decided to cancel altogether the Army Day, integrating it into Independence Day.