An IDF Proposal: The Cutest Ever

Hebrew	Transliteration	English translation
כֹּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה	Kol od balēvav pənima	As long as in the heart, within,
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה	Nep̄eš yəhudi homiya,	A Jewish soul still yearns,
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח, קָדִימָה,	Ulp̄aʾatē mizraḥ qadima,	And onward, towards the ends of the east,
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה,	Ayin leṣiyon ṣoviya;	An eye still gazes toward Zion;
עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ,	Od lo avda tiqvatēnu,	Our hope is not yet lost,
הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם	Hatiqva bat šənot alpayim,	The hope of two thousand years,
לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ,	Liyot am ḥop̄ši bəʾarṣēnu,	To be a free people in our land,
אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם.	Ereṣ-ṣiyon virušalayim.	The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

History

The title of the national anthem, HATIKVA, means "The Hope." It was written by Naftali Herz Imber (1856-1909), who moved to Palestine in 1882 from Galicia. The melody was arranged by Samuel Cohen, an immigrant from Moldavia, from a musical theme in Smetana's "Moldau" that is partly based on a Scandinavian folk song.

Hatikva expresses the hope of the Jewish people, that they would someday return to the land of their forefathers as prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. The Jewish people were exiled from Israel in 70 C.E. by the Roman army led by Titus who destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. During the two thousand years of exile, the Jewish people said special daily prayers for return to Israel while facing the East in the direction of Jerusalem. They celebrated the holidays according to Hebrew seasons and calendar. Zion is synonymous with Israel and Jerusalem.