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Israel's National Anthem

"Hatikva" -- The Hope

The title of the Israeli national anthem is "Hatikva," which means “The Hope.” It was written by Naftali Herz Imber, a Galician Jew, and set to music in Palestine in the early 1880s. Hatikva is about hope, the undying hope of the Jewish people, through the long years of exile, that they would someday return to independence in their homeland.

In The Jewish heart
A Jewish spirit still sings,
And the eyes look east
Toward Zion

Our hope is not lost,
Our hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our land,
In the land of Zion and Jerusalem