The Olympics are a unique time when the national anthems of many countries get played in succession. It is a time to consider how unique Israel’s anthem is.

Hope versus Superiority and Sacrifice

Most of the national anthems in the world were written to rally a nation. They evoke war themes and superiority over a nation’s foes. Consider the United States anthem about “the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,” or Germany’s original “Germany, Germany over all. Over everything in the world!”

In the Muslim Middle East, most countries have anthems that describe sacrifice:

• “We all sacrifice for you, we supply you with our blood” – UAE
• “Our martyrs’ souls are formidable guardians” – Syria
• “We will drink from death” – Iraq
• “Palestine is my vendetta and the land of withstanding” – Palestinian Authority
• “A life of dignity and a death of glory” – Tunisia
• “We never betray the call for sacrifice, death” – Sudan
• “On our dead we build glory” – Algeria
• “May God take my life” – Turkey
• “We are your sacrifices” – Libya
• “Remember through my joy, each martyr” – Yemen
• “The Kurdish youth are ever-ready And always prepared to sacrifice their lives To sacrifice their lives, to sacrifice their lives” – Kurdistan

But the State of Israel’s national anthem “Hatikvah” is about hope. Not superiority. Not vendetta, sacrifice or struggle. HOPE.

Its Capital City

While most countries’ anthems surround themes of victory and struggle, Israel uniquely focuses its anthem on its capital city, Jerusalem. In fact, no other country even mentions its capital, while Israel does so in an anthem just a few lines long.

One of the Oldest in the Middle East

The world changed dramatically after the end of World War I, with the collapse of the Austria-Hungarian and Ottoman empires, the end of the USSR, and end of decolonization. The number of countries multiplied over the last century, to nearly 200 today.

Israel’s national anthem is the oldest of the new nations, especially in the Middle East.

• Israel written in 1878
• Turkey 1921
• Syria 1938
• Jordan 1946
• Libya 1951
• Oman 1970
• Kuwait 1978
• Tunisia 1987
• Iran 1990
• Yemen 1990
• Palestinian Authority 1996
• Iraq 2004

While Jews are falsely accused of being recent interlopers and invaders, with no right to live in Jerusalem, and the Jewish State is smeared as a racist country built on superiority and imperialism, its national anthem is the oldest in the region, only speaks of hope and freedom, and is uniquely about its capital city of Jerusalem.

Israel national anthem:

As long as in the heart within,
The Jewish soul yearns,
And toward the eastern edges, onward,
An eye gazes toward Zion.

Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope that is two-thousand years old,
To be a free nation in our land,
The Land of Zion, Jerusalem.