Question
What is the source and the different opinions regarding Hallel on Yom Ha’utzmaot and the other Tefillot that are said. Also what about Kriyat Hatorah and the Haftorah?
Answer
The Talmud (Pesachim 117a) says that the prophets ruled that the Jewish people should say Hallel upon a Divine salvation from danger. According to the Meiri, this applies even to a group of Jews (family, community) who were in danger of destruction and were saved. This description is certainly apt for the community in Israel in 1948.
There are opinions that the actual institution of the Hallel requires an act of Sanhedrin (high court) which we do not have today. This would not preclude saying Hallel without a Bracha.
There are others who claim that there is a prohibition to say Hallel on a day not ordained by the Rabbis, but that position is hard to justify from Talmudic texts.
To a great extent this question derives from one's attitude to the Jewish State and the salvation of the Jewish people in 1948.
