Keren Peles, one of Israel’s most successful singer-songwriters, has built a remarkable career which includes her own performances and compositions for others. Her recent Eurovision contributions showcase this dual talent: she co-wrote “Hurricane” for Eden Golan’s fifth-place finish in 2024, and penned “New Day Will Rise” for Yuval Raphael’s impressive second-place appearence in 2025.

Yet in the wake of October 7, Peles found herself drawn not to contemporary compositions, but to the timeless words of her childhood hero, Naomi Shemer. In this episode of “Song of Hope,” Peles chose to perform Shemer’s beloved Al Kol Eleh (“Over All of These”), better known as Al Hadvash ve’al Ha’okets (“On the Honey and the Sting”).

The choice feels deeply personal. Both women share roots near the Sea of Galilee, and Peles credits Shemer as her role model growing up. Shemer, known as the “first lady of Israeli song and poetry” and recipient of the 1983 Israel Prize for Hebrew Songwriting, created a song that has transcended its original meaning.

While many assumed Al Kol Eleh was a political statement about the Yamit settlement evacuation – given Shemer’s right-wing affiliations and public support for the Sinai settlement – the song’s true origins are far more intimate. Shemer wrote it for her sister, whose partner drowned while diving off Sinai’s shores. It was meant as comfort for a grieving widow, a prayer asking God to protect “the honey and the bee sting, the bitter and the sweet, our infant daughter.”

Despite its personal genesis, the song quickly assumed national significance. It became anthems for those opposing evacuations, first from Yamit in the 1980s, then from Gush Katif in 2005.

For Peles, performing this song after October 7 reveals new layers of meaning. The phrase about “returning to the good land” now carries dual significance: hope for the kidnapped to return home, and faith that the land itself will return to goodness. In times of national trauma, Shemer’s deeply personal prayer has once again become a collective plea for healing and hope.