Since the first aliyah in the late 1800s, Israel has changed from an exclusive socialist, secular, Jewish agrarian culture to something much more. In its very small geographic footprint, Israel is now a leading country in many categories (hi-tech, medicine, and, of course, agriculture, to name a few).
Israel has also become multicultural on many levels. This tiny country has opened its arms to Jewish refugees from all over the world, who in turn bring their ethnicities, culture, religious interpretations, music, and art.As a theocratic democracy, Israel is both a Jewish state and democracy, where citizens of any religion, race, or ethnicity can experience freedom – much like many other Western democracies.
A core concept, expressed in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, is “The State of Israel… will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace …; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions…”
And this was accomplished without loss of Jewish identity. Preceding the above paragraph, the Declaration states: “Accordingly, we, representatives of the Jewish community, hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish State… to be known as the State of Israel.”
The national anthem of the State of Israel, “Hatikvah” (The Hope), is a two-stanza song whose words speak of the historic yearning of Jews for a return to their ancient national home in the Land of Israel, where they would live as a “free” people.
Hatikvah originated in the Zionist Movement. It was written by poet Naftali Herz Imber circa 1878 and published in Jerusalem in 1886. The music was then composed by Samuel Cohen, who based the melody on a Romanian folk song.
The traditional lyrics, however, were rewritten to reflect the new historic reality of statehood. The last three lines of the original text spoke of “the ancient hope to return to the land of our fathers, to the city where [King] David dwelt.” The revised version replaces the biblical allusion with an emphasis on “the hope of two millennia to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.”
Is it time to re-write those lyrics today? I would not have thought so, but my granddaughter, who is active in a hasbara (public diplomacy)-based outreach program, has convinced me otherwise.
Uniting all identities
Since the start of the current Hamas-Israel war, I have been posting to my limited social media world examples of non-Jewish citizens of Israel who immediately jumped in to serve their country and help their fellow citizens. These include, for example, an Arab-Muslim volunteer for the ZAKA rescue service in Sderot, Bedouin Arabs of the Hatzalah (EMT) squad in Rahat, the Bedouin IDF unit, and ordinary Arab citizens immediately risking their own lives to save their fellow Israeli citizens at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7 and continuing to help as the war goes on. They and their families are part of the tragic group who lost loved ones in what was an indiscriminate barbaric attack.
MY MOTIVATION for posting this common theme on social media was to show that regardless of how one hyphenates his or her identity (Israeli-Arab, -Muslim, -Christian, etc.), any loyal, productive citizen can thrive and be part of Israeli society without losing his or her ethnic, or religious identity.
This is as far as my thinking went until my granddaughter pointed out that several non-Jewish Israelis she has met through her outreach program do not sing the words nefesh Yehudi (Jewish soul) in the national anthem. (This is very different from those Arab students or MKs who demonstrate disloyalty by not singing or standing for the national anthem.)
Arabs and other non-Jewish citizens of Israel have long served in the army, police forces, and government, and have contributed to the economy and community in medicine, business, and agriculture.
And unlike the Arab riots of May 2021 in Israeli cities caused by incitement put forth by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, this current war is different. Israel’s diverse Arab community, for the most part, has proven that they are just like all loyal citizens of Israel, proudly supporting their country’s right to exist.
Therefore, as has been done before, it is time to consider officially either changing one word in the National anthem or allowing two official versions to be sung – “nefesh Yehudi” or “nefesh Yisraeli” according to one’s personal preference.
“Yisraeli” (Israeli) is consistent with the Jewish identity of the State of Israel (language, calendar, symbology) and its Declaration of Independence (“the establishment of a Jewish State”).
This would make our claim of “Am Echad” – “One People” even stronger.
The writer made aliyah to Ashkelon in 2015. He is a former New York City advertising agency and marketing executive and a recently retired professor from Rutgers University’s School of Communication, but still does some consulting. Follow him on X: @DavidsLevine.