נעמי שמר

Naomi Shemer, born on Kvutzat Kinneret, is remembered as the "First Lady of Israeli Song". She wrote both words and music — rare at the time — and gave the young country a vocabulary for longing, land and everyday life.

She composed Yerushalayim Shel Zahav in early 1967 for the Israeli Song Festival, weaving biblical Hebrew from Lamentations and Psalms into a modern melody. Weeks later the Six-Day War broke out and soldiers sang it at the Western Wall; Shemer then added the final verse about returning to the city.

For diaspora communities the song became a shared anthem — often the first Hebrew lyrics learned outside Israel — and it still opens memorial ceremonies and Yom Yerushalayim gatherings worldwide.