My Top 25 Israeli Songs of ‘25

An annotated playlist of 25 songs, selected from last year’s rich offerings, to reflect the breadth and depth of Israel’s popular music ecosystem as it evolved in 2025.

There’s something about music that uniquely absorbs and reflects the atmosphere of a time and place. And that goes double in Israel, a tiny country with huge cultural and sociological diversity.

Israeli lyrics in 2025 not only reflect the present mood, but do so in a Hebrew that ranges from Biblical to Hasidic to Arabic- and English-inflected modern slang. Israeli music in 2025 continues to be strongly influenced by both musical style trends in the Western world such as rap, but also by the Mediterranean and Mizrahi sound, and the use of Arabic instrumentation and tropes.

This past year’s ballads, anthems, social commentary and love songs were no exception. Israeli popular music continues to reflect – and affect – the evolving culture, society and politics of contemporary Israel.

My playlist features 25 Israeli popular songs from 2025, spanning 90 minutes. The list isn’t ranked; rather, it’s curated to showcase the range and richness of Israel’s musical ecosystem this year, ordered by my own subjective musical and lyrical intuition.

My annotated playlist with comment is below. You can then listen to the playlist via links to:

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/ebb-israel-current-2025-top-25-of-25/pl.u-9N9LKAdtGlmyW

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5r34iShSmxgEsBjpX2K6jd?si=0a2f7bce47b243d8

YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkYFl-NMP1ZlXN72G2gOtV4MGNAMH_8YN

Here is my annotated playlist:

# Song Title (Heb.) Song Title (Eng.) – Artist. # of YouTube views *= YouTube visuals Length (minutes) Notes

1. Tzama Thirst – Yonatan Kunda & Dahlia Shaham. 9534:07

“In this scorching land – a prayer for water…” Soulfully combines Hebrew and Arabic spoken word with a Hasidic melody and a beat. Based on Psalm 63, attributed to King David while in the wilderness of Judah.

2. Achi My Brother – Hanan Ben Ari. 353k 3:10

“Brother – you’re with me in my dreams; I sleep and wake…This is a song you’ll not hear on Remembrance Day…” Hanan Ben Ari is currently one of Israel’s leading singer-songwriters; one round of the televised competition to select Israel’s vocalist for the 2026 Eurovision song contest requires each of the six remaining contestants to sing a Hanan Ben Ari song.

3. Shivchei Yerushalayim Praises of Jerusalem – Narkis. 14k * 3:31

From the Tribute Project to “Tzliley HaKerem” (a seminal 1970s Israeli musical group that emerged from Kerem HaTeymanim, the Yemenite Quarter of Tel Aviv). Narkis, one of Israel’s current “It Girls”, here shows off her amazing chops in this contemporary Oriental-tinged gospel-like rendition of a widely covered traditional song drawn from Psalm 147.

4. Sheh Rak Uchal Lishkoach If Only I Could Forget – TheIdan Raichel Project. 78k 4:42

Backed by a gorgeous stirring women’s choir singing in Amharit, musical giant Idan Raichel reflects on memory and forgetfulness.

5. Ma Zeh Mishaneh Bichlal?  What Does it Matter? – Dudu Tassa & Tamar Reili 181k* 2:46

Dudu Tassa is one of the more serious singer songwriters working today. Known for blending Iraqi music with rock, he leads “Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis”, an ensemble which reimagines songs written (in “the old country”) by his famous grandfather and great-uncle, the Al-Kuwaiti brothers. In this contemporary plaint, he confronts the despair of the current moment.

6. Chelek Lo Nifrad m’Acharim Totally Part of Others – Ivri Lider, Evyatar Banai. 72k 3:29

Evyatar, a scion of the multi-branch super talented Banai family, teams up with Ivri Lider, one of Israel’s most successful mainstream artists, in this beautiful answer to Dudu Tassa’s question. “I have a child and I will love him forever. A decade back I wouldn’t have believed it. I listen to what the Universe is expressing; I’m an inseparable part of Others…”

7. Elef Chaverim A Thousand Friends – Narkis. 689k * 3:28

Narkis sings of her existential loneliness.

8. Lo HaMishuga Hayechidi Not the Only Crazy One – Hanan Ben Ari.258k 3:54

Ben Ari just went through a very public breakup with his wife of 16 years, with whom he had seven children. Known for his emotionally direct lyrics, he now confronts a dilemma: “Write about yourself, what are you afraid of? About the love that doesn’t have a “happy end”…?” So he goes down to the desert to write again.

9. HaShem Yerachem The Lord Will Forgive – Tuna & Odeya. 922K* 3:23

Tuna is Israel’s most prominent and popular high-end hip hop artist, and a wise rapper. Here he teams up with Odeya, another one of Israel’s current “It Girls”, to sing about contemporary love.

10. Merchav Mugan LeLev A Safe Room for the Heart– Benaia Barabi. 345k * 2:57

Benaia Barabi is a rising star, especially after his 2023 #1 hit “Keren Shemesh” (“Ray of Sunshine”), a lovely naïve and sweet love song. Here, after the war, where millions sheltered in safe rooms to protect against missiles and rockets, he sings another love song, appreciative of the emotional “safe room” of their relationship.

11. Tagid Li Attah You Tell Me – TheIdan Raichel Project. 254k * 3:01

Hebrew is a gendered language, so it is clear from the lyrics it is a woman singing to a man: ”Tell me why I have no rest? And how can this be good? I wanted to shout, but I hadn’t within me voice, until you appeared and we were both present…” But (as in Song of Songs) is this Raichel’s separated wife singing to him? Or (a la Song of Songs) is it a feminine voice (Israel) singing to God?

12. Tza’akti EleichaI Cried Out to You – Eyal Golan. 782k * 3:22

With Eyal Golan, still Israel’s most successful Mizrachi singer, there is no “Song of Songs” ambivalence in these lyrics: this is a shout out to God “from the depths”. Samuel Johnson wrote: “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel”, mocking false patriotism, when corrupt people wrap themselves in the flag to shield themselves from criticism. Golan has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct over the years, including in 2024-2025.

13. Kahta Tenshu  Karate Chop (Live) – Ido Maimon, Shiru & Reality. 1.2k 4:17

Ido Maimon is a producer, arranger and sax player, active across Israeli hip-hop, funk and pop. He has produced for leading artists like Tuna, Nechi Nech, Tippex and others, and has produced his own concept albums and live shows featuring guest singers and rappers. From a live show at the end of 2024, “MiSamplei HaSimpolim” (“Sampling Samples”), a project built around creative sampling, comes this driving populist rap.

14. Mistakelet Letzdadim  Looking Sideways – Omer Moskovich. 1.2k 3:58

Omer Moskovich is a Tel Aviv singer-songwriter, director and screenwriter, active in the guitar-driven indie/alt-pop scene. She mixes pop writing with rock and some Middle Eastern color, often (as in this number) with sharp, personal and feminist-leaning lyrics.

15. Parash Boded  Lone Rider- Mercedes Band. * 224k 3:50

“Lone rider, don’t be afraid to cry. A great desert, you can explode…” Funk-rock, streetwise.

16. Pe’er HaOlam Splendor of the World – Eviatar Banai. 33k 3:50

This beautiful touching song is from “The Songs of Danieli”, a commemorative musical project setting to music poems and texts written by Danieli Zonenshein, a 20-year-old National Service volunteer killed in a car accident. Evyatar Banai composed and performs “Splendor of the World” using a poem Danieli wrote at age 12. “When the light draws you outside in the early morning, to reveal anew the splendor of the world…”

17. B’Tzait Yisrael When Israel Came Forth – Hadag Nachash.* 284k 3:51

Sets the full text of Psalm 114 to a new groove-driven arrangement by HaDag Nachash, the veteran hip-hop/funk band from Jerusalem. [The band’s name literally means “the fish is a snake”, but it is a wordplay on “Nahag Chadash” (“new driver”)]. This track features great gospel-type backup singers and solo performances.

18. Tehran (Soundtrack of TV Series) – Mark Eliyahu. 1.6m 3:58

This is the terrific theme music that plays under the opening credits of the Israeli thriller series, “Tehran”, written for the production by Mark Eliyahu. The music was composed for the first season in 2020, but the third season played on Israeli TV into 2025, and the confrontation between Iran and Israel gave the drama a supercharge. Some have critiqued the music as not sufficiently Iranian and more Mizrahi. But that is easily forgiven because it’s so good and fits so well.

19. Shedemati  My Field (Arr. for voice, cello, electronics) – Maya Beisar & Odeya Nini. 112 5:07

Haunting instrumental, blending the orchestral cello and electronics with Middle Eastern beats and melody lines. From the high art concept album “Salt”.

20. Ud Sof HaOlam  Til the End of the World – Idan Raichel & Shira Ben Simchon. 91k 3:37

Here Idan Raichel, who rose to fame in part by his skill in collaborating with others, platforms a new vocalist, Shira Ben Simchon. She sings Hebrew pop with emotional melodic ballads, as in this gentle love song.

21. Machrozet Yeled Sheli  Songs of My Child – The Revivo Project. * 873k 6:14

The Revivo Project is a hugely popular Mizrahi/Mediterranean pop vocal group which began with medleys of covers of classic songs and moved on to original joyful dance-oriented sound popular at celebrations. This song, drawing on Israel’s famous love and celebration of children, is like Hebrew country music, in a Mediterranean/Mizrahi style.

22. HaKaylim HaShvurim  The Broken Vessels – Dudu Tassa. 21k 3:29

Another song confronting the despair of the present reality, with lyrics by the poet Eli Eliyahu. “Kaylim Shvurim” can mean “broken instruments”, as in musical instruments, but also “broken vessels”, referencing the Kabbalistic concept that the universe itself is composed of the shards of broken vessels of light that require tikkun, or repair, to make whole. “Sadness from here to there…No angels and no ladder. Until the children return, we’ll look from the windows and sit by the gates, and nightly play on broken instruments…”

23. Pashut Ohev Otach  I Simply Love You – Mosh Ben Ari. 1.1 million 3:42

Mosh Ben Ari comes from the “shanti shanti” wing of Israeli singers, strongly influenced (like tens of thousands of younger Israelis) by travel in India. Here he sings a straight-ahead love song. “Covered by the stars… How beautiful you are by the light of the moon, your embrace feels like a medicine… To fall into deep conversation, to wake together into the sunrise…”

24. Bechurot Tovot  Good Girls – Sarit Hadad & Odeya. 4.3m 2:49

Pure pop. Mizrahi song queen Sarit Hadad teams up with rising It Girl Odeya. Girl loses boy, starts again anew. He tries for a comeback – too late! “I fell to the bottom of the bottom, Then climbed back up on my high heels…”

25. Eretz  Land – Idan Raichel. 299k 3:25

“Land flowing with milk / And honey and newscasts. / Land of quiet and war / hipsters and rabbis / sand and gold. / A land that has a sea / and a sea of anxieties… / the city, the town / mosque and monastery…/ Turn pain into song / but also soulful love / when the chips are down. / There will yet be life.”