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55 albums · 1960–2025

Music of Israel, from Arik Einstein and Kaveret to Ofra Haza, the Mizrahi song, Idan Raichel and today

· 1 min read · by 1001 Albums

Arik Einstein in black and white, resting his head on his arm on the grass
The three Haim sisters of A-WA singing on an open-air stage in embroidered dressesA conductor leading an orchestra at rehearsal in an empty concert hall in 1964
Arik Einstein, the voice of Poozy and Yasmin. Photo: Yosi Rot, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · A-WA in concert at Châlons-en-Champagne in 2016. Photo: G.Garitan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · A rehearsal in Tel Aviv's Mann Auditorium in 1964, most likely the Israel Philharmonic under Charles Munch. Photo: Willem van de Poll, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Israel's popular music starts with the Hebrew song of Shoshana Damari, Naomi Shemer and the military bands, a school of singers, and runs through Arik Einstein, Kaveret and Shalom Hanoch, Matti Caspi and Chava Alberstein, Shlomo Artzi and Yehuda Poliker, the Tel Aviv rock of Mashina, Ethnix and Berry Sakharof, the Mizrahi song of Zohar Argov, Ofra Haza, Sarit Hadad and Eyal Golan, Rita and Dana International, the hip hop of Hadag Nahash, and on to the Idan Raichel Project, Asaf Avidan, Yael Naim, A-WA, Dudu Tassa and the jazz of Avishai Cohen. The list has 55 records from 1960 to 2025, one or two by each name and only a small part of what they made; the liturgical and cantorial music, the Arabic-language song of the country, most of the classical tradition beyond a nod to the Israel Philharmonic, and the Yiddish and Ladino song are left for other lists. About 42 hours of music, 5 days of a few records each.

By genre

Rock 15%Pop 14%Folk & Country 5%Other 66%
  • Rock 15%
  • Pop 14%
  • Folk & Country 5%
  • Other 66%

The genres named most: israeli, pop, rock, mizrahi, folk, hebrew song.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 1 country: Israel 55. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2000s

The 2010s

The 2020s

More lists

Lists of Countries first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.