Adjusting Israel’s National Anthem To Not Exclude Israeli Arabs

The first line of “HaTikva” reads (in English translation), “As long as deep within him a Jew’s soul stirs …” In the wake of a silent protest by an Israeli Arab justice of the country’s Supreme Court, The Forward teamed up with singer Neshama Carlebach (daughter of the late Rabbi Shlomo) to offer – with just a few tweaks of the lyrics – a version of the anthem that doesn’t exclude 20% of Israel’s population.