Yardena Arazi – One of Israel’s Most Popular Singers

The Fellowship  |  September 23, 2020

Yardena Arazi
Yardena Arazi

Born to olim (immigrants) in a Jewish family in Israel, Yardena Arazi grew up on a kibbutz (a collective Israeli farming community). Singing from an early age, Yardena served her time in the IDF as part of the Israeli military’s entertainment troupe.

Yardena again served her country in 1976 as a member of the vocal trio Chocolate, Menta, Mastik which represented Israel at the 1976 Eurovision competition. The group toured Europe and South America before Yardena left in 1978. But the following year, she would again take part in Eurovision, this time as host of the competition in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Her hosting received positive reviews, leading to a recording contract. At the same time, Yardena met and married her husband Natan, with whom she has raised a family in Israel.

Throughout the 1980s, Yardena Arazi received acclaim for her music, her albums going platinum and gold and Israel naming her the country’s most popular singer five times. In more recent years, Israelis have come to know her as a television host. But Yardena Arazi, this week’s Israeli You Should Know, joined the Israel Philharmonic to sing for the Jewish state’s milestone 70th birthday in 2018, in the video above.