Yafa Yarkoni

Yafa Yarkoni (Hebrew: יפה ירקוני, also Yaffa Yarqoni, 24 December 1925 – 1 January 2012) was an Israeli singer. She won the Israel Prize in 1998 for her contributions to Hebrew music. She was dubbed Israel's "songstress of the wars" due to her frequent performances for Israel Defense Forces soldiers, especially in wartime.

Yarkoni was born Yafa Abramov in southern Tel Aviv to a Mountain Jewish family, that had immigrated from the Caucasus.

Yarkoni was the middle child in a family of three, with an older sister, Tikva (born in 1921), and a younger brother, Benjamin (born in 1927). When she was eight years old, her parents divorced, and her father relocated to Southern Rhodesia, leaving the family in financial hardship.

In the 1930s, she moved with her mother and brother to Givat Rambam, now part of Givatayim, where her mother established a café-restaurant called "Tzlil" ("Sound"), which became popular, particularly among security personnel and artists. She performed alongside her siblings at Tzlil.

Yarkoni began her artistic career at a young age. She and her siblings formed a group called Bamati, an acronym derived from the initials of the four family members, that would perform at their mother's restaurant. Yarkoni's sister Tikva would sing, her brother Benjamin would play piano, and Yarkoni herself would dance.

The group gained popularity among the cafe's patrons, and following a recommendation from singer and actor Shmuel Fisher, Yarkoni was accepted to study classical dance at Gertrud Kraus's studio. There, she also learned to play the piano and later joined Kraus's dance troupe, which was associated with the Palestine National Opera. She performed with the troupe for 12 years until a leg injury during a 1945 performance ended her dancing career.

In late 1947, Yarkoni enlisted in the Haganah as a radio operator. During the 1947-1949 Palestine War, she served in the Givati Brigade and began singing with the brigade's entertainment troupe, "Ha-Hishtron." Songs written for the troupe by Toli Reviv and Bobby Panhassi, including "Don't Tell Me Goodbye," "Sharhoret," and "It Only Happened This Time," became associated with Yarkoni. Two songs she performed during this time, "Ha'amini Yom Yavo" and "Bab al-Wad," became symbols of the war. "Ha'amini Yom Yavo," introduced to her by actor Raphael Kalchkin, was first sung for convoy escorts to Jerusalem. "Bab al-Wad," written by Haim Gouri in memory of the convoy escorts, gained prominence about a year after the fighting ended.

In 1948, Yarkoni recorded a successful album at the Radio Doctor studio. Among its tracks, the song "Green Eyes," often considered the first Israeli pop song, gained widespread popularity. She subsequently signed with the newly established record label Hed Artzi, where she recorded all her albums.